Endless Sunsets
by Kyla of the Desert
Summary: "There are faults in your 'Will of Fire'... Because the burning flames of fire will also give way to the creation of a shadow." Post Fourth Shinobi War NaruHina. T for language. Book 1 of 3.
1. Chapter 1: Darkness

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto does! **

**Just a heads up, this story is a little dark. No one dies in this story, and I'm gonna find a way to get Neji back! This story is going to be about fifteen to twenty chapters, plus an epilogue and a preview to its sequel. I've already written most of it out so I don't have to worry about being late in updating and whatnot. **

**Let me know of any advice or problems you may have with the story. Flames welcome! Just… don't kill me. Please. **

**This chapter is going to be kinda long, but the rest of the chapters will be normal sized. Consider this the introduction to the Sunset Trilogy. **

**I've put every ounce of my writing ability into this story… that's a lot. Looking at this story, it's as if I've taken a huge leap into author-hood. My very first fanfiction – ever – is Diseased, a Soul Eater Fanfiction. It sucks. I've written a couple of fics (The Wings of Fire series, which was also less than satisfactory) and "Birds of a Feather". That one was okay, in my book. My most popular story before this would be "Relaxation on Explosion Lane" which is a pure comedy fic I wrote for Maximum Ride. Every time I publish a chapter, the reviews steadily rise, and it makes me feel famous. This story is my pride and joy. It's as if Nayru suddenly started spreading her wisdom on me when I wrote this! (Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom in Zelda games, just so you know.)**

**This is probably the longest author's note that will ever be at the beginning of these chapters. **

**Please read and review, let me know what's up. Enjoy! :D **

**Chapter 1: Darkness**

IT WAS LATE AND ALL OF THE CONSTRUCTION hammers in Konoha were diminishing. All that remained was that one, lonely constructor. That guy who thinks, "Hey, I know people are trying to sleep, but I don't care."

The sunset that day had been breathtaking, but it signified the end to another day in the dark. The dark of not knowing whether or not they were safe from the terror, the unnamed fear that their armies had lost the war. What if the war was already lost? What if they were already living in the confinements of an endless genjutu… and they didn't even know it? That was the daily thought process of the citizens of Konoha and every other Shinobi village participating in the war.

Would it have been too hard to send a measly messenger to each village, telling them of their current state of affairs as to shed some light on the situation? Was it too much to let the villagers know about what was happening as of late?

Some would say it was the sense of superiority that their government felt over them – the ability to keep them out of the-know. Others simply stated that the information would cause turmoil. What better way to conserve peace than to keep the truth out of the minds of the unstable?

But this night, it appeared that such tragedy couldn't have happened – no, tragedy had never happened on the soil that the full moon shined bright on.

Tonight was controversial, however. This particular moon was blood red… the blood of the lost staining its pristine surface. The impurities of war marring it, as Kurenai told Konohamaru earlier that month. "Akatsuki… red moon." She muttered, looking up at it as if expecting it to suddenly start dripping.

Throughout the months, everyone in Konoha was going along with their usual business – shopping, wandering the streets, working, talking. But everyone was consumed with the fear of what happened to their Shinobi. After all, they _were _a Shinobi village.

Some wondered if it would be safer to move to another village, still in the Fire Country, but away from the main ninja action. Most, however, just hoped that Konoha and the other Shinobi nations were doing their best to rid the world of the horror named Madara Uchiha – Obito Uchiha. Still, it would be considered unsafe, had they overheard information that was to only be shared with Shinobi. Shinobi were often present in stores, chattering away about information that could be easily heard by villagers.

It couldn't be assumed that all villagers were loyal to Konoha – just look at the ones who still detested Naruto.

Young students at the Ninja Academy were worried for their senseis – every ninja that had stayed behind was called into the battlefield. It was just like the drills that they had practiced. They were to remain calm and wait patiently. But after months, "patient" wasn't part of their vocabularies anymore.

Kurenai was at home, patiently waiting for the return of her old classmates and students. When she lost Asuma, she shouldn't have been as depressed as she was. They were ninjas! They were expected to live hard lives! They were expected to give everything up for the sake of a mission – for the sake of their comrades.

A certain teenage Genin was thinking deeply about his idol. What if Naruto was one of the lost? The ones who gave up their lives for the sake of their village? Would his death benefit Konoha?

Konohamaru shook his head. Of course it would! Naruto was the ninja who saved Konoha from Pain single handedly! The great Toad Sage Jiraya gave up his life fighting that terrifying Akatsuki, but Naruto took on five of Pain's bodies… and won! How would Naruto _not _benefit the village?!

Konohamaru had fought so hard just to fight inside of the war, but he began to ponder the consequences of war. If you had never taken a life, you would eventually on a mission. There was no religion – just belief in The Will of Fire. That was part of being a Shinobi. But from what he heard of the Third Great Shinobi War, innocent lives were taken. Lives that had nothing to do with the fighting were stolen from existence.

Was this what the Fourth Great Ninja war was about? The five powerful nations of Leaf, Sand, Cloud, Mist, and Stone were all fighting together this time… so what were they fighting against?

At his young age, he wasn't allowed to fight actively in the war, despite his loud protests. But he wanted to – so badly. He wanted to fight alongside his friends and make a difference in his village.

The young ninja looked up from his pondering and began to take in his surroundings. Shops that were active at night flicked their lights on, and shops that weren't starting locking everything away. He could see the Yamanaka flower shop from where he was standing. Since Ino and Inoichi went away to fight, the shop was closed until further notice.

Konoha was barren without the ninja activities… whether they were jumping across roofs, standing guard at the gates, or just standing around. At first, it was bearable. Then, they lost word with the Hokage. The next news they got was that the Command Center was gone… obliterated. The Yamanaka flower shop was permanently closed.

The loud prankster that everyone and Konoha once loathed was fighting for this village. "How could he, someone who was ignored and hated, just automatically forgive the village and risk his life for it?! He has every good reason to hate us!" A villager was talking to another villager one day. The other smiled and sighed. "We need more young people like him in this world." Both were old women, and they looked at each other and laughed.

Somehow, everyone in Konoha knew that the loud, energetic, crazy little boy that they had once hated was fighting with his life to protect them. He was a prankster, he was named after food, he was once viewed as a monster and a failure.

He was the Fourth Hokage's legacy. This boy, trained by one of the Legendary Sannin, would go great places. The people of Konoha were glad to have him.

* * *

Somewhere out there, Naruto, Tsunade, Gaara, A, Mei, Onoki, and every shinobi of every nation were fighting for the villages. No matter where they were fighting, every shinobi kept Gaara's speech ringing clear in their minds. Somehow, it was as if all Shinobi were united under one mind.

It was as if his message had spread to the ninja who _weren't _there too. Konohamaru could _feel _the Will of Fire flowing through his veins. Had he suddenly matured in the time when the Shinobi left the village? It-

"Konohamaru-kun!"

"Konahamaru-chan!"

Konohamaru's teammates came running up to the boy, waving their hands.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked, snapping out of his stupor.

"Wanna go get some ramen?" They both asked at the same time, stopping in front of them.

"Uh… sure. Why not?" Together the three Gennin headed for Ichiraku's Ramen shop. In order to get from where they were to the shop, they had to pass by the main gates of Konoha. The three teammates slowly strolled towards the gate. As they passed, Konohamaru looked out at the forest longingly.

It was as if Konoha erupted.

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Konohamaru recognized the voice of Sakura nee-chan shouting for the villagers to move.

Being the first ninja to enter the village, the medics and the injured were awfully noisy. There were at least two ninja carrying a stretcher (duh) and the line seemed to never end. There were various injuries, and some made Konohamaru sick to the stomach. Torn-of limbs, dead people… it was unbearable. Sakura was standing next to Konohamaru, watching every ninja like a hawk.

"Sakura nee-chan!" Konohamaru grabbed onto Sakura's arm and gave her a hug. She patted his head gently, still looking at the injured ninja flooding in.

"Hold on. I have to make sure no one has a critical injury that hasn't been treated yet." She said softly, looking around.

"Where's Naruto nii-chan!?" He asked, almost panicking.

"Ha! Don't worry about him. He's fine. Just knocked out, I think." Sakura laughed at Konohamaru's horrified expression. "Don't worry! You think he would drop dead so easily?"

The younger ninja laughed nervously, feeling stupid that he was thinking about Naruto's death not too long ago. "Heh… I guess you're right."

A stretcher with an annoyed Sasuke came by. "I'm telling you, I can walk!"

"It's not that." Ino said happily. "Just no one trusts you enough to let you walk around alone! Duh!" Sasuke growled at her and she laughed. She had gotten over her crush on Sasuke _long _ago, and because he had caused her best friend so much pain…. She laughed some more. She was going to get her revenge… for her and her friends. For Sakura and Naruto.

Ino winked at Sakura as she led the stretcher past, and Sakura gave her a weird look. Sakura looked back at Konohamaru.

"There's Naruto." She said, pointing to the "far lane" of stretchers. Konohamaru left her side and wiggled through older Shinobi.

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" A kunoichi gasped. "Sorry lady, I didn't mean to! Ow!"

Konohamaru slowly stopped running and watched everyone run around him. Then, he saw a mess of dirty blond hair on a stretcher.

"Naruto nii-chan!" Konohamaru ran up to Naruto. Naruto looked up and over at Konohamaru.

"Hey….." With Naruto drawing out the word, the younger shinobi was instantly worried.

"Heavy painkillers. He's really out of it." The medic-ninja in front of the stretcher said. Naruto looked at her.

"'M not out of it… just…." His head lolled to the side, and Konohamaru could see the thick bruises going across his face. Konohamaru realized the large bandage going across Naruto's chest. The bandage was bloody and needed to be changed… badly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the stretcher beside Naruto. Hinata Hyuuga's eyes were bandaged and she was murmuring questions to the kunoichi in front of her stretcher. One of her hands was linked in Naruto's, a sign that their injuries were a walk in the park when compared to the other injured ninja.

Suddenly, Konohamaru was trembling. _This is the reality of war, _he thought shakily. _W-why did I want to… fight? _He steeled himself. _We were protecting everyone from Madara. It's not like we started this one. _

* * *

The Konoha hospital was too full of people. When they suddenly started running out of rooms, the hospital staff started to rank injuries. Some were serious enough for them to stay in the hospital, and some only stayed for a little while.

Hinata was released the day she was admitted with the nurses telling her to take it easy.

Tenten and Ino were released immediately, having been told the same. Shikamaru didn't have any major injuries to start with, Choji was told to take it easy, Kiba had gotten away with a broken arm, Lee was still spouting about the power of youth, so he was okay, and Shino barely had scrapes and cuts.

Neji was dead.

Kakashi-sensei was dead.

As for the rouge nin, he was suffering from various injuries, most critical – like Naruto.

As soon as Naruto exited Kyuubi Chakra mode, it was like an instantaneous rebound had hit his body. He was suffering from broken ribs, his left shoulder was dislocated and the muscle had torn – all injuries that wouldn't have taken too long to heal. But for some reason, the Kyuubi wasn't healing Naruto's wounds.

As Hinata stood up, she could hear a certain ninja shouting at whoever was treating his injuries.

"Don't stick that there! I told you I'm fine!" Naruto was screaming at whoever was preparing to give him shots.

There was silence, and then a crash.

"G-gomenasai… b-baa-chan." Naruto was whimpering.

"Baka," Sakura muttered, leaving the room. Hinata just giggled.

Ino strolled in the room, leaning against Hinata's door frame and smiling.

"So, I think everyone saw what went down between you and Naruto." Ino started slyly.

"W-what are you t-talking about?" Hinata's face was slowly turning red.

Sakura poked her head in the room. "Ooh, that's right!" She reached across the hall and slammed Naruto's door closed. Then, she ran down the hall where Tenten was talking to Tsunade. Sakura politely removed Tenten from the conversation and dragged her to Hinata's room.

Ino laughed. "We're all here. So Hinata, go ahead. Talk."

Hinata shrank back on to her hospital bed even more, her face going bright red.

Sakura laughed. "Don't worry, Hinata. We have all day. My shift's over, after all."

"Yeah, Hinata! Since when were you two at _that _stage?" Tenten asked, leaning in to hear Hinata's answer.

"I-I don't know w-what you're talking a-"

"Ha! Don't play dumb, Hinata! We all saw you kiss Naruto after the war ended! We _all _saw you."

Hinata turned bright red. After Madara and Obito had fallen, Hinata had practically thrown herself at Naruto, even though they were both injured. When they _finally_ pulled apart, Hinata looked over and felt the stares of practically the whole army on them… and fainted.

The girls all laughed at Hinata's discomfort and escorted her out of the room. Tsunade strolled up and looked at Hinata's red face, and it didn't take long for the Hokage to find out what they were talking about.

"Ha! That was priceless!" Tsunade laughed, and everyone else in the hallway whistled at Hinata.

* * *

Months later, Naruto was called to the Hokage… place (since the tower construction _still_ wasn't completed) upon Tsunade and Sakura's request. As soon as Naruto walked in, Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and eyed Naruto carefully. His eyebrows drew together and Sakura noted that his arm was still in a sling.

"Sup?" He asked, casually looking at the two women.

"Nothing seems off to you?" Tsunade asked just as casually, a stern look on her face.

"Um…" He looked up as he thought about any awkward possibilities. "Well, Sakura-chan and Ino have been laughing at me for no reason…."

"Nothing else out of the ordinary? Does it seem a little quiet to you?" Sakura asked, looking into Naruto's eyes.

"Quiet? Please, with all of this construction going on, it's impossible to hear yourself think!"

Tsunade and Sakura looked at each other. In the corner, Shizune and Tonton just shook their heads.

"Do you have any idea why you're taking so long to heal?!" Sakura said, rubbing her forehead.

"Now that you mention it… huh." Naruto thought, looking at the floor.

"Naruto, when you were in the hospital, what happened to the Kyuubi?!" Tsunade shouted finally.

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Who, Kurama? I haven't heard from him….."

Sakura injected her opinion. "Naruto, with the injuries you had, you didn't realize how it was taking too long for you to recover?" His eyebrows furrowed in realization.

Tsunade jumped up and slammed he hands on the desk. "Naruto! Where is Kurama?!"

Naruto took a step back. "Okay, I'll talk to him! I just gotta take a seat…" He sat down on the floor and crossed his legs, closing his eyes and concentrating.

He was trying to see if he could go talk to the nine tails. All of the sounds around him suddenly faded, and he was suddenly staring at nothingness. Standing up, he turned around to see the Kyuubi towering over him. It appeared that he was sleeping.

"Hey, Kurama! Where've you been!" Naruto shouted, running up to the Kyuubi. Kurama didn't twitch. "What?" Naruto pondered, slowly moving up to Kurama.

The Kyuubi remained motionless.

Kurama wasn't dead – he was still breathing. There was something else sealing him – keeping him from moving.

Naruto jumped on Kurama's paw, trying to get his attention. "Ku-ra-ma!" He shouted, punctuating each shout with a jump.

Kurama opened one eye. "What?" He said groggily.

"Dude, where've you been!?" Naruto shouted, still jumping on Kurama's paw.

"Na-ru…to…." Kurama choked out, groaning and flopping over.

"What? What happened?"

Kurama just growled and closed his eye. He curled one of his paws into a fist – with great trouble – and went back to sleep. Naruto could feel his wounds healing significantly, but it was at an immense cost.

Naruto opened his eyes suddenly. "He—I think he's injured." Naruto said, his eyebrows furrowing.

"What?!" Tsunade demanded, standing up.

"I don't know! I should talk to Octopus dude! He'll know."

Tsunade grunted. "He's in Suna right now on behalf of the Raikage." Tsunade went back to her paperwork. "I'll send a messenger bird to let Gaara know of your arrival." Killer Bee had elected himself official ambassador for the Village Hidden in Clouds so he could hang out in Village Buried in Sand. He found the change of scenery interesting and enjoyed how the villagers reacted to him.

"But sensei! Naruto's still injured!" Sakura said, eyeing Naruto's arm.

"It's fine. I checked it this morning. He's not supposed to move it until tomorrow, and that's when I'm sending you out." Tsunade started scribbling something down on a scroll.

"Shizune! Get this scroll to the Communications Unit!"

Shizune jumped at the sudden shout. "H-hai, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune ran past Naruto and Sakura and down the hallway.

"Naruto, Sakura! Heal up and prepare for the mission!"

"Hai!" Sakura bowed. "Let's go." She and Naruto walked out and down the street back towards the hospital. Naruto still wasn't one hundred percent, and he was kind of worried if he could do his best on the mission.

Even though he was just going to Suna, there were reports of rouge running wild everywhere. Tsunade and A, the Raikage, were still in main control of the Shinobi Nations' Alliance, and they were responsible for making sure each nation knew what was going on with the other. There were multiple birds flying out from the Communications Center and going in every direction.

Naruto and Sakura walked slowly, observing the ongoing construction of the village. It would have gone a lot faster if they had Yamato and his wood style, but… he was one of the losses in the war.

"Hey, Naruto, I'll meet up with you later, 'kay?" Sakura leaned over, looking at Naruto.

"Yeah, see ya, Sakura-chan!"

As Sakura walked away, Naruto threw his hands up behind his head and walked slowly back home. It was only noon yet it seemed like a day's worth of events took place.

And what of Kurama? Kurama was—

"What're you doing, baka?" Sasuke nearly growled at Naruto. He looked up suddenly at Sasuke. Naruto was one of the only people who easily welcomed Sasuke back to Konoha. For the first two months, ANBU were watching him around the clock. He couldn't take a shower without seeing one of their creepy masks looking into his bathroom. He couldn't piss without an ANBU standing behind him. He couldn't eat without them checking his food.

"Sup?" Naruto asked, glancing to the side at the slightly older ninja. Not many ninja were excited at Sasuke's sudden proclamation to become Hokage, either. Kiba was still riffing about the whole thing even though it had happened months ago. Some were surprised that Sasuke was so dedicated, and thought it was good to have such strong ninja in Konoha. Others suspected Sasuke to be scheming, just like Danzo had. This theory was backed further with the knowledge that Sasuke had assassinated the "Sixth Hokage".

Much to the villagers and ninja's discomfort, Sasuke was allowed to freely roam the village now. Villagers made sure that he knew that he wasn't welcome.

"It's a shame, seeing the last Uchiha kid like that…. And the Uchiha were such a proud clan." One woman was saying as Sasuke walked by.

"At least he's not trying to kill us all. Did you hear _why _the Uchiha were wiped out?" They went on murmuring the versions that they had heard.

And Sasuke wasn't a hater, but when he heard, "You know the Kyuubi kid? The one who saved the village not too long ago? I heard that he's a hero of the war!", he wanted to slap the guy.

Sasuke was still under constant surveillance, however, but at least he could use the restroom in peace. But, his apartment had been investigated, and he was only allowed to carry weapons permitted by the Hokage. The ANBU counted his kunai and shuriken before he left in the morning, and when he came home, they would ask him detailed questions if even one was missing.

Naruto and Sasuke walked down the street in silence when they heard, "Oh, there's that Uchiha kid… ugh."

"Ha! Enjoying the extra attention, Sasuke? Well, you always had plenty!" Naruto playfully elbowed Sasuke and Sasuke avoided it, not even snorting.

But Naruto wasn't in a joking mood, surprisingly. Naruto's mind was filled with thoughts. Normally, he would have thrown his arm around the other ninja's neck and yelled something loud enough for Gaara in Sunagakure to hear. But how could he when Kurama… Kurama was... injured? Sealed? Naruto didn't know the word to use. But as Naruto thought more deeply, he realized that letting something like that bother him was useless! They would go to Suna, meet Killer Bee, go to the Land of Lighting with its Falls of Truth, and fix this! Naruto looked up and looked around himself.

Konoha was a sight to see, bustling at this time of day. There were food carts and miniature farmers markets selling "The best fruit in the Five Nations!" One young girl hustled by and stopped suddenly when she saw Sasuke and Naruto. Before Sasuke left the village, girls would throw themselves at Sasuke, but this time was different.

"Ooh, are you Uzumaki Naruto?!" The girl was on the brink of having a full-blown fangirl attack. "I, like, love you so much! First, you saved the village, now you saved the world… NEEEE!"

Naruto smiled and put on hand behind his head. "Thanks…" but other fangirls had heard her cry and came running. "Naruto-kun!" They all swooned and asked him random questions regarding his love life and various other things.

But, fortunately for Naruto, the object of the girls' fangirling was a Shadow Clone. Naruto and Sasuke were actually making their getaway. When they were in a quieter part of town, they walked slowly, taking in the sights. Naruto realized he had a headache coming on and rubbed his forehead. He knew that Naruto was acting weird, but Sasuke noticed this extreme change in Naruto's demeanor and looked over.

"Hey, teme, you okay?" Sasuke asked, looking ahead again.

"Yeah… I-"

Fireworks. That's the first word that popped when Naruto tried to name what he saw in his mind. His hand flew up to his head and he dropped to his knees as the pain exploded in his head. He grunted when the pain made its way to his eyes.

"Oi!" Sasuke shouted, grabbing Naruto's arm. Sasuke could see the sheen of sweat on Naruto's skin. "Y-"

Naruto flung off Sasuke's hand. Staggering back, Sasuke looked at Naruto stand up shakily. He moved around jerkily, trying to steady himself. "I-it's mine…." He breathed. Sasuke took a step back. His hand was already on the hilt of his sword. Sasuke readied himself for battle, making sure his feet were ready to launch him to attack.

"Finally!" Naruto growled, turning. His arms swung around as if he wasn't in control. With his head still hanging down, his whole body began to shake erratically. "FINALLY!" He screamed, looking up at Sasuke.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, combining a warning and a question into his name.

The hate filled chakra that was emanating from Naruto rivaled the Kyuubi's and Sasuke took another step back. The villagers watched in horror as the two Shinobi faced off.

"Isn't that Naruto?"

"Is he finally going to get rid of that rouge?"

"He should! He's the hero of the village! I doubt he would leave dangers running around like that!"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, ignoring the villagers.

Sasuke stepped back again and readied his grass cutter sword, ready to attack at any moment. If he wanted to, Sasuke could easily relieve someone of his head. Just as easily, Sasuke could kill someone without spilling a drop of blood, or greatly impair someone without killing them. Despite the multitude of protests, Tsunade permitted Sasuke to carry it on his person.

This dark version of Naruto had Sasuke worried, however. Sasuke's arm was reaching back, ready to completely unsheathe the grass cutter sword, but Dark Naruto made no move towards Sasuke. Instead, he was completely still, barely breathing.

In a sudden movement, Dark Naruto ran full speed at Sasuke, throwing a powerful punch that Sasuke had trouble evading. Dark Naruto lifted his head to show off the orange lines that framed his eyes – a sign of the perfected version of Sage Mode . The punch hit a street light instead, and the pole bent over. It sent sparks into the street and scared off any villagers who had the guts to stay and watch.

Seemingly oblivious to the whole scene and villagers rushing in the opposite direction, Sakura was coming down the street towards them. "Naruto! I forgot to give you this!" She shouted, waving a hand above her head. Dark Naruto spun suddenly and looked her in the eye. She gasped at his sudden change in eye color – black irises surrounding red pupils. Chuckling darkly, he closed his hand around Sakura's throat when she got close. "What?" She choked.

Dark tightened his grip on Sakura when she squirmed frantically. Her fists were powerful, but they had little effect on Dark's Sage Mode. Sasuke turned on his Sharingan and glared at Dark Naruto, but he just laughed. "That weak Genjutsu? Not a chance."

There was a rustle as Ino moved from her previous position. Standing in her flower shop watching the whole thing go down, used her Mind Body Switch technique, but was instantly repelled by Dark Naruto's mind. He laughed and looked at her discomfort when she rubbed her head. His thoughts were so painful... so violent as to force out anyone who intruded.

"Naruto nii-chan!" Konohamaru leaned forward, building up momentum to attack. Running up to Dark Naruto, he tried to attack, but Dark backhanded him and sent him flying to where Ino was. They both slid to hit the front of the flower shop.

"They all…" Dark murmured, "treated us… like crap!" He threw Sakura aside and with a thud she landed a few feet away, skidding in the concrete. She used the force to turn around and land on her feet. With her fist powered up with chakra, she attacked the ground. Her power caused an earthquake in their general area, smashing the concrete pavement.

Dark Naruto prepared to take a swing at her when Sasuke feinted an attack by running right and then cutting left quickly. Sakura used this opportunity to attack from behind, but Dark spun to catch her fist and swung her towards Sasuke.

Sasuke caught her and set her on her feet, releasing the hilt of his sword in the process. He tracked Naruto's movements and managed to move out of the way before he had a chance to reach back and grab his sword again. He grabbed Sakura once again and pulled her out of Naruto's path.

Using Sasuke as a base, Sakura took another swing at Naruto, but this time, when Dark Naruto grabbed her wrist, Sasuke dropped down and sweep kicked Naruto. While he was falling, Sakura jumped over Sasuke and drop kicked him.

Dark flipped back and twisted his hands in the ground while using his legs to keep spinning and landed back on his feet. His fist snapped out towards Sakura before she had a chance to react, and even though she blocked at the last minute, the power behind it forced her back into Sasuke's arms. Sasuke's eyes were watching Sakura and didn't notice Dark coming at him from above. Dark Naruto slammed his heel into Sasuke, but when the dust cleared, there was a watermelon in Sasuke's place.

"Damn replacement!" Dark growled, looking for Sasuke. Sakura took this chance to sock Dark Naruto in the stomach, sending him flying into a watermelon stand. Tsunade, Temari, and Shikamaru were running up, having received reports of the fight.

Dark pulled himself out of the wreckage and stood for a moment. He punched the ground, imitating Sakura's signature move, and Sasuke managed to avoid. He had been underground, waiting for the perfect chance to attack from below.

Swiftly dodging Sasuke's counter attack, Dark had placed himself in the path of Sakura. There was a slight scuffle and Dark stopped suddenly, dropping to his knees and holding his stomach.

"Cha…" Sakura cough, rubbing her neck. Konohamaru and Ino stood nearby, looking terrified and Tsunade, Shikamaru, and Temari came to a stop.

"Wha…" Shikamaru started, seeing Naruto lying on the ground, holding his stomach. They all took in the destroyed road and lamppost. Shikamaru's eyes slid to Sasuke who was standing semi-innocently next to the wreckage.

"Sakura-chan, what was that about?" He rubbed his sore stomach where he could feel the fist shaped bruise forming.

"Did it work?" Sasuke put his sword away, his eyebrow twitching.

"I think," Sakura replied, clenching and unclenching her fists. "You okay, Naruto? I tried not to break anything."

"I think… what happened?" Naruto stood up and almost fell again at the pain in his stomach. He definitely had a couple of bruised ribs – if none were broken.

Tsunade put her hands on her hips. "What happened?!" She marched over to Naruto and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"I don't know!" Naruto replied. "I was walking with Sasuke, and then I remember Sakura-chan punching me in the stomach!"

"Humph." Tsunade dropped him face first back into the rubble. "Clean up this mess. We'll talk later."

Everyone reluctantly walked away, save for Sakura and Sasuke. Ino and Konohamaru were still standing across the street in shock.

"What _was _that?!" Sasuke demanded, taking a step forward towards Naruto. Sasuke's arm was back up, ready to pull his sword at any moment.

"I-it felt like… _him." _Naruto held his head. He made no move to step away, which surprised the older ninja. "I might need to go back…" He said absentmindedly looking off into the distance. Sasuke released his grip on the hilt of the sword, but he was still tense. His sharingan was still activated.

"Him?" Sakura asked.

"When I went to the Waterfall of Truth… when I was training with Octopus guy… I saw him. He said he was the real me. I got rid of him, but…." Naruto trailed off.

Sakura was preparing to say something when Sasuke cut her off. "Whatever it was, don't do it again." Sasuke glared at Naruto. He gripped the hilt of his sword as if to say, "Or you'll regret it."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke. He was there when this happened, so he had to have done something to agitate Naruto. There would be no reason for Naruto to mindlessly attack Sasuke. Sakura was getting increasing angry with Sasuke. How could he imply that Naruto attacked him just to attack him?

"If you're wondering," Sasuke growled, his eyes changing back to normal, "I didn't do anything."

"How would I know, Sasuke-kun? That sounded a little defensive to me." Her eyes narrowed. Naruto had worked so hard to bring Sasuke back to the village and this is what Sasuke does?

"Eh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, looking over at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Sasuke-kun, what did you-"

Sasuke's sharp glare and tone cut Sakura off. "I didn't do anything. Like I would waste my time with doing something like that." He it was like he had read her mind, responding as if he had. Naruto was remaining uncharacteristically quiet, contemplating possible solutions to the problem. Naruto was changed by the war, and drastically. Fighting alongside Sasuke and the Fourth Hokage had almost _forced _Naruto to think through his actions. Acting on impulse, as Sasuke had done during the fight multiple times, could have ended fatally.

Ino, who was still standing across the street with Konohamaru, was watching the whole conversation with intense interest. Konohamaru wanted to approach Naruto, his idol, but… after what had happened. As much as he was afraid to admit it, he was slightly scared.

"I want to know what you did to Naruto." Sakura said, somewhat protectively. Naruto was still silent, looking at Sakura cautiously.

Sasuke's dark gaze slid over Sakura's face quietly. He stepped up to Sakura and looked her directly in the eye. A slow smirk appeared on his lips and Sakura's face reddened. Despite this, she stood her ground which was partially in front of Naruto.

"I don't know why I'm the first to be accused… especially considering you were throwing yourself at me every chance you got back then."

From across the street, Ino gasped. Not only did he directly insult Sakura, but he formed a full sentence! Ino was practically dying to run over there. Surprisingly enough, Naruto was still quiet, now watching Sasuke.

Sakura was gaping at Sasuke – her mouth was moving, but she couldn't seem to get the words out, much to her further mortification. She shut her mouth and glared back at him. "What, do you miss the positive attention?"

Sasuke let out a hard laugh. "As if. I'm just glad I have one less fly to swat. And since when, did you Naruto, shut up and think?" Sasuke asked, his stony, obsidian glare sliding to Naruto. Naruto met his eyes with an equally cold glare. Sakura was slightly frightened. First, she had seen her friend go all psychopath rage on Sasuke… and now this. Sakura knew this look, and she knew that Naruto only donned it when he was extremely serious.

"Since when, did you Sasuke, begin to attempt to hold a conversation?" He replied in an even tone. "And it appears that you are just as unfriendly and stuck up as you used to be."

Sakura was bewildered. Naruto had risked his life to "save" his best friend, but…. Was Naruto realizing that Sasuke was beyond saving? He didn't need saving – he had some serious soul searching to do.

"So you _aren't _the same blond idiot that chased me around for three years." Sasuke said, turning up the intensity on his glare. Naruto did the same, his eyes now an icy blue.

"Are you going to do something or are you going to keep on acting like you own the place?" Naruto asked casually, a glint returning to his eyes. But he wasn't feeling right. His eyesight seemed a little blurry around the edges and he was feeling dizzy. Sweat was beginning to bead on his brow.

"You look a little worn out… maybe later." Sasuke said, yawning and walking away.

"Teme…" Naruto growled quietly after him. Sakura could see, almost feel, the changes in Naruto and Sasuke. The old Naruto would have shouted, "_Teme, I can take you anytime!" _and the old Sasuke would have replied, "_Yeah right, keep dreaming." _

They would have fought each other in the street until Kakashi-sensei would come stop them.

If they fought now, it's not certain the city would get away without serious damages. Kakashi-sensei wasn't even alive anymore, and if he was, he wouldn't have a chance of trying to stop a fight between the two.

Even from standing across the street, Ino could feel the god-like power rolling off of Sasuke and Naruto.

But Naruto wouldn't let anything touch the village. He would have lead Sasuke away and leveled some poor forest. He would have given his life if it meant saving the Leaf. The Leaf, Konoha, the same village that, not too long ago, treated Naruto like a monster.

The little boy who grew up without parents, the little boy who sat on the old swing alone, the little boy who desperately wanted to be Hokage, the little boy that only wanted attention – he was a monster in their eyes. They could see the Kyuubi glaring at them with his red eyes full of hatred.

Not once did they think that by ostracizing Naruto, they could have possibly created a monster.

Sakura sighed and turned away from the whole scene, trying to take her mind off of things. She spotted Hinata rounding the corner and waved.

"Sakura, Naruto-kun!" Hinata called when she was close enough. Naruto was still glaring off in the direction that Sasuke had left in. "Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, looking past Sakura.

"Sasuke…" Sakura mumbled and Hinata nodded. Although Hinata didn't know Sasuke personally, she knew of his cold attitude.

"Naruto-kun, do you want to go get some ramen?" Hinata asked politely, Naruto turned and looked at her, and for a second, she got a glimpse of those cold, blue eyes.

But he just smiled, the light returning to his eyes. "Heck yeah!" He threw his arm around Hinata's shoulder, making her blush. "You wanna come too, Sakura-chan?"

"No, you two go ahead. I have to prepare for the mission tomorrow." Sakura shook her head and walked off.

That's who Naruto was. His soul would remain forever unbroken, despite the hardships he had faced. At least, that's how it was supposed to be.

* * *

**So, good chapter? Too much stuff happening? Scenes going by too fast? Please tell me! I'm working on making sure my scenes are developed and trying to keep my writing from being so… mysterious. I'm still working on the details. Also, if you see any spelling mistakes, please feel free to tell me. I'm still learning. Further on in the story, if you spot any jutsu mistakes, let me know! **

**And the whole thing with Ino will be explained in later chapters. I didn't just put that in there for nothing. **


	2. Chapter 2: Falls

**Chapter 2: Falls**

**To xXYour DoomXx, they aren't "official yet" because with all of the trouble going on, they haven't really had a chance to sit down and face their feelings. After about chapter 7, the real fluff starts up. I hope you stay until then!**

**Based on a review I got, I took a LOT out of this chapter that needed to be removed. This chapter went from medium length to short. Really short.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters. **

After a little while of joking around, Naruto looked up to see a bird circling over them. The remaining Konoha Eleven made their way to the Hokage. Once they arrived, however, the Hokage dismissed everyone but Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, Choji, and Hinata.

"Because of the recent events, we need at least two medics on the team. I've put this team together because I believe the Ino-Shika-Cho formation help a great deal with taking down strong enemies, Sakura and Naruto work extremely well together in battle, and Sakura is a medic, and Kiba and Hinata have shown incredible team-"

"What's the mission again?" Naruto asked, cutting Shizune off from her explanation.

"Naruto!" Tsunade barked. "Shut up and listen!" A scroll flew at Naruto with blinding speed and narrowly avoided him.

"But baa-chan, how is this even important?! What rank is the mission?"

Tsunade picked another scroll, ready to throw it. "It doesn't have a rank. It's not a mission."

Everyone but Sakura deadpanned. "Naruto, I don't believe you've forgotten already." Tsunade sighed, looking at him. "We're getting you to Suna to meet with Killer Bee." She looked around the room. "As for everyone else, this is an S Rank mission. You will also be escorting Uchiha Sasuke to Suna."

Everyone gasped. They had all heard of the fight that Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto had almost gotten into (Thanks to Ino's detailed description), and Shikamaru questioned if it would be safe.

"Even with this stacked team," Tsunade looked up and sat up straighter, "I doubt it will be enough to stop Sasuke." Everyone remained quiet for Tsunade had something else to say.

"With Naruto in his weakened state, he will be a target for Rouge Ninjas. The only thing we can do is trust Sasuke with his word. If we can't trust him, and he attacks anyone on this team, you have my permission to kill him on the spot."

"But, Tsunade-sama-" Sakura tried to interject, but Tsunade held up a hand.

"With the exception of one person." Everyone was stunned into silence again. "Sasuke has full permission to attack Naruto if necessary. In case of this situation, Sasuke will give everyone the okay to attack, and he will be the commander of that battle."

Everyone glanced at Naruto. Hinata moved next to him and tapped his shoulder lightly, but he didn't respond.

"I thought the Kyuubi was with us!" Kiba shouted in outrage.

"We aren't dealing with the Kyuubi here. Since Sasuke has firsthand knowledge of this, if an event happens where Naruto turns, you all will obey Sasuke. Shikamaru, you are the Commander for this mission."

Everyone joined in a chorus of, "Yes ma'am"s.

"You're dismissed." Tsunade barked, and everyone left the room.

On the way out, they all ran into Sasuke who looked at them and kept walking. No one questioned him, and Naruto wasn't asked about the side mission.

That didn't mean nobody had questions, however.

The group walked down the streets, talking loudly and laughing amongst themselves. However, Naruto's mind was preoccupied by thoughts of Kurama and Dark.

"N-Naruto-kun, is something bothering you?" Hinata said quietly next to him. Ino's gossip alarm popped up instantly, even though she was talking animatedly to Sakura and Choji. She was the closest to the pair and she wasn't going to pass up this opportunity for information.

"Well… yeah… sorta. It's just… I'm going to Suna because Kurama won't wake up."

"Why not?" Hinata asked, her voice clearer this time.

"I don't know… maybe he's just tired." Naruto sighed, looking up into the clouds.

Shikamaru had asked for everyone to gather in one hour's time to go over the plans. After that, they had two hours until they departed on the mission, which would be after the sun set. Since the end of the war, there were Rouge ninjas everywhere, all trying to see if they could infiltrate the Shinobi Villages. It was true – the Five Shinobi Nations were weakened by the war, but not enough to allow Rouge Ninjas to just waltz in. Still, there was the risk of being attacked by a Nuke Nin when outside of the village.

Rouge Ninjas were known for collecting bounty, and the Konoha Eleven – minus Neji – definitely had high prices on their heads. The seven of them would have to be on constant lookout when traveling to the Sand.

Everyone had dispersed and wandered aimlessly – either by themselves or in smaller groups. Sakura and Ino were chattering quietly, making their way towards an ice cream shop, Kiba and Akamaru had gone off to do whatever, to which Naruto replied with a big grin on his face, "Yeah, like you call frolicking in the fields like nothing. I mean, someone should get a film crew and make a chick flick about you and Akamaru!" Everyone laughed at that, and Kiba and Akamaru walked off angrily.

Shikamaru and Choji were lounging lazily on a bench, eating a bag of chips.

Naruto was about to walk off alone when Hinata walked up. They walked in silence for a little while, an hour to kill. The sun was setting red, but it wasn't the blood red that the moon had been – it was a brilliant red, mixed in with hues of orange and pink. On one side, there was a luminous yellow, and on the other side, a gleaming bright crimson. In the middle, right below the sun, was where the orange was most prominent.

Somehow, the pair had found the perfect spot to sit, giving them a spectacular view of the setting sun.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked quietly. She had been procrastinating for the past forever to ask this question. "What-"

"You know what, Hinata?" He asked suddenly, looking over at her. He didn't even hear that she was about to say something, for she was mumbling.

"Huh?" She asked, surprised. "I-I-"

"Well, up until a while ago, I thought you were a creepy little stalker – following me around and whatnot." Hinata kept looking at the sun, looking a little disappointed. Naruto continued, a smile beginning to bloom.

"But I realized you were always at my side…" He coughed, having never muttered something so incredibly corny in his life. She looked up at a passing cloud, still listening intently to what he had to say. He looked back at the sun. "And then, when you took on Pain… you were so brave, but I didn't want you to put your life in danger."

He looked away roughly, glaring in the opposite direction of her. "You should have run… then he wouldn't have… I still don't understand why you did it." He sighed. "I heard what you said – loud and clear… but at the time, I couldn't return those feelings."

Her shoulders moved slightly, but she still didn't say anything.

He continued. "I realized, that during the war… after Neji died," they both flinched at that, "I noticed that you were there. I realized what Neji said when my life wasn't just mine anymore. Not only was I fighting for the war, but people – you – would be willing to give up their lives for me… for my safety."

Hinata looked at the back of his head for he was still turned away. She was about to say something, but he cut her off.

"And that was what people had been doing previously! They were fighting for the safety of the two remaining Jinchuuriki! Who was I to sit around and let lives be lost for the expense of mine?!"

He turned around to look into Hinata's light lavender eyes.

Behind them, the rest of their group had gathered to watch from behind multiple trees. "Was that a confession?!" Kiba whisper-yelled to a nearby tree.

"So romantic! It sounded more like a proposal to me." Ino whispered back.

"You sure some outside force isn't controlling Naruto?" Choji asked, looking at the pair. "I mean, I didn't think he could be so… deep."

"Shush! They're still talking!" Sakura whispered, pointing at them.

Naruto reached up to put his hand on Hinata's cheek. "I'm sorry… I didn't notice you from the beginning…" he said, letting his hand drop. Everyone in the trees let out a disappointed, "aww!"

Hinata caught his hand before it fell and placed it back on her cheek. "Don't apologize."

Ino was quietly chanting, "Kiss, kiss, kiss!" when Naruto jumped up and threw a shuriken at the tree that Ino was behind. She jumped out, startled, and held her hands up when Naruto readied another shuriken.

"Ino! Why?!" Sakura cried, jumping down from her tree. "The real thing is always better than movies! And you ruined it!" She shook her pink hair in dismay. "You're no better than those jerks that start talking about the ending during the movie! Or crumbling chip bags right behind you at the best part!"

Shikamaru and Kiba walked out and sighed. Shikamaru leaned against the tree Ino was previously leaning against. "Well, it was almost like life was waiting for someone to ruin the moment."

"It couldn't be helped." Choji agreed, crunching on a bag of chips.

Naruto and Hinata were still standing in battle position, surprised at what had happened. "Uh… did we miss something?" Naruto asked, still gripping his shuriken.

"Nope!" Ino sang, grabbing Sakura's hand and jumping back up into the trees. Everyone else followed, and she yelled behind her, "Carry on!"

Hinata and Naruto looked at each other, still confused as to why their friends had burst out of the forest so suddenly.

"Do you think they were watching?" Hinata asked, looking at Naruto.

"Uh…"

When everyone gathered at the gate to review the mission plans, it was one big awkward moment. Naruto and Hinata walked up and everyone glanced and then quickly looked away. Sakura was still pissed off at Ino for interrupting the moment, and Kiba was prepared to use what he had heard against Naruto later on.

Shikamaru was the one to break the awkward moment.

He rolled out a map and started pointing to the route they would take to get to Suna.

"So, here is where we'll stop for a break to conserve our energy. Also, medicinal plants are abundant here. There's a chance someone will get injured on this mission." Shikamaru said, pointing to a spot on the map. All Naruto saw was lines and words, but everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Yes, and sensei also sent me along to gather some plants, so either way…" Sakura added, looking over to Shikamaru.

"We'll make sure to stop there. We're all going to Suna for various reasons, but all of us have the job of keeping Sasuke in check." At this, Kiba snorted.

Everyone muttered in agreement to Kiba's snort, save for Sakura and Naruto. As many terrible things Sasuke did, he was still their teammate.

"And unfortunately, I can't travel with you all." Everyone looked up to see Temari standing next to their little huddle.

"Well, I didn't think we needed escorts." Kiba replied, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked up at her.

"Oh, you don't? Well, good luck getting your butts kicked." She let out a loud laugh. "Seriously though, if you sit at the front gates in a circle, it looks a little like you're trying to go through a sacred ceremony." Temari laughed again, putting her hand on her hip.

"Yeah, we're going through an exorcism. Be gone, demon!" Kiba yelled at Temari and everyone laughed. Kiba followed it up by throwing his hands in the air and shaking.

Naruto flinched slightly while he was faking laughter, however. It reminded him too much of his childhood, the words that Kiba had said. He could see the eyes of all of those people… all they all just wanted the demon to be gone.

He shook his head. Where was all of this coming from? After he made peace with Dark Naruto, his past never haunted him _this _much. Hinata put her hand on his shoulder as to calm him down. She quickly removed it, however, but not before Ino spotted her.

Ino was not going to let this fly. She wasn't!

"Hey, Temari, when this is finished, wanna join us at the springs?" Ino said slyly. Temari followed Ino's line of sight and spotted Hinata and Naruto.

"Yeah… is Hinata joining us?" Temari asked, a smirk forming. Sakura, and Ino followed Temari's lead and smirked and winked at Hinata.

Hinata moved out of their prying glare by shrinking behind Naruto.

"Eh?! Hinata?" Naruto asked, turning around to look at her. She started to inwardly flip out, but stopped at the last minute.

The girls all laughed at Hinata's dilemma…this was going to be a long trip.


	3. Chapter 3: Destination

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto does! **

**I feel like a con-artist! I know the summary promised romance, and you'll get romance… just… later. Later than I expected, actually. It's in chapter 7: Confessions. And then there's the tragically angsty chapter 8. And of course, the humorous, joyous chapter 9. Ah, chapter planning. **

**And, I realized that I originally ****_didn't _****put the hot spring trip in here! I was checking my email, and I got the review from xXYour DoomXx and I flipped out. I just started writing the moment I read that… and then I realized ****_why _****it wasn't there.**

**xXYour DoomXx: Sorry to disappoint you, but I have something already planned for the hot springs trip XD I can assure you, I've put every amount of writer knowledge I have to write that chapter. It actually comes later on in the story, because they really don't have the time to go - their mission was literally scheduled to start ****_that afternoon. _****I know I should have put it in here, but it's too late, for I've already written up to chapter eight in detail, and the whole story in rough draft. **

**I love you guys, and I love your follows, but I can benefit a whole lot more from reviews! In a review, I can see if I need work in an area, your thoughts on the story, and how you think of me as a writer. So, kiyone, Iuzhikari, P5yCH0, MissMellark, Gea-Li, Tequoia, Nanami Namikaze, nyx189, cadre the hunter, roy23, and betinlara897, I believe that you are all of my review-less followers! I think there are a few favorites in there… but please! I want to know your thoughts on this story! **

**This chapter's challenge: I want to hear from you all! I want a review from each of you to tell me what you think. Even if it's just what you think will happen in later chapters. I hate to do this, but I might just put the next chapter as an author's note addressing this! I need to know how I'm doing as an author! **

**Chapter 3: Destination**

The group left two hours after the meeting, just as planned.

To conserve energy, everyone walked through the forest instead of their usual run. The trip wasn't _that _urgent. Sasuke was lagging behind, still within range of everyone else.

Instead of complaining about the pace, Naruto was caught up in his own little world, until Sakura shouted, "Up ahead!"

There was a group of Rouge Ninja, but they were outnumbered by the Konoha Ninja. It wasn't enough to even be called a clash. In mere seconds, the Rouge Ninja were limping away, and one said, "Hey, those are those guys!" The other guy looked at Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke and his eyes widened.

"You're right!" They made a quick retreat, possibly to their lair.

Finally, after the sun started to rise, they made it to the field that Sakura was looking for.

"I'll need White Morning Glory flowers. They're white with purple centers. I need you to get the stem as well as the root. Also, keep an eye out for Orange Tulips. They stems are good for making salve. There are also red flowers that are healthy, but only eat the ones with the white centers!" Sakura instructed. Everyone nodded, although Naruto was slightly confused. The field was covered in white, yellow, and red flowers. It would be impossible to find the right type of flower.  
Everyone nodded and scattered… except for Sasuke. He sat down near the tree line. He was supposed to stay in the sight of at least one Konoha or Suna shinobi.

Naruto kneeled over a field of flowers, trying to decide which one to pick… they all looked the same to him. He leaned down and smelled them, and picked the best smelling one. It was bright red all the way through.

He stuffed a bunch in his pocket and looked around for the white ones. When he was sure he had found them, he put those in a bag. He also came across some Orange Tulips near a small pond of water.

Hinata walked up. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, hey Hinata!"

Hinata looked at the little field of flowers that Naruto was kneeling in. She looked up at him and gave a shy smile. He smiled back and her heart pounded in her ears.

His smile faded and he reached up to cup Hinata's bright red face. His liquid sapphire eyes seemed to turn into oceans as they got closer to her pale lavender ones. They were close enough to feel the other's breath on their face and—

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, standing behind Naruto.

Instead of jerking back, Naruto accidently jerked _forward _and slammed into Hinata. Sasuke looked around the tangled mass. "I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be making out right now. We're about to leave." He said with finality and walked away.

The pair pulled back and stared at each other.

"Uh… oh, sorry…" Naruto said, gesturing to the red mark on Hinata's forehead where he had slammed into her.

Hinata looked away slightly, not aware that her hands were still around Naruto's neck. "It's okay…"

Together, they followed Sasuke back to their gathering.

On the way, Naruto reached in his pocket and pulled out a red flower. "Hey Hinata, Sakura-chan said we could eat the red flowers, right?"

Hinata looked over at Naruto. She wasn't listening to the question, really, and answered, "Yeah."Just as Naruto was about to pop it in his mouth, Hinata threw herself at him, successfully knocking the vile flowers on the ground.

"No Naruto-kun! If you eat the red flowers, your blood pressure will skyrocket and you'll die in an instant!" She shouted, still holding on to Naruto's wrist.

"But, you said it was okay!" He shouted back, still confused.

"Only the ones with the white in the middle!" Hinata was still trying to calm her heart. Naruto was five seconds away from death and he didn't even know it.

"Yo, what's the hold up?" Kiba shouted from a tree. Akamaru barked in agreement. "We're about to leave!" He body-flickered away and Naruto and Hinata continued their leisurely pace across the field.

* * *

The group of seven finally reached their designated campsite without any more run-ins with enemies. Everyone was feeling in need of a seriously good sleep, but when everything was set up, everyone decided to stay up.

Naruto was leaning sleepily against a tree, Hinata was sitting near him with Sakura by her side, Ino was whispering Shikamaru about her previous findings, and Choji was digging through Naruto's bag for some instant ramen. Sasuke was sitting in a branch about twenty feet above Naruto, glaring out into the distance. Kiba and Akamaru were lounging lazily near another tree.

Kiba yawned loudly. "I call first watch."

"Whatever," Sakura sighed, lying down on her sleeping bag. "You have to have someone watch with you, though."

"I'll do it." Hinata murmured.

About twenty minutes in to the watch, Hinata saw something move. Ino was getting up, stretching. Hinata sighed, pleased to be relieved of watch so early on.

"Heh, heh, Hinata. I have some questions for you!" Ino said evilly. Hinata's eyes widened.

Sakura suddenly sat up, wanting to hear the news. "Wait, what?"

But before Ino and Sakura could get the information out of Hinata, Akamaru barked. An intense growl rumbled from his throat as he pointed his glare somewhere near Hinata.

Upon closer inspection, Akamaru was growling directly at Naruto. Sasuke hopped down from the tree and went to stand with everyone else, facing Naruto.

Naruto had leant over from the tree and one of his hands was covering his face. His whole body was shaking and trembling, and the muscles in his arms were rippling.

Hinata was about to run to him but Sasuke grabbed her arm roughly.

"Stand here." He said quietly, still watching Naruto's every move. Naruto's hair was beginning to droop slightly with sweat. Hinata tried to jerk free from Sasuke's grip, but he wasn't letting go.

"Sasuke-kun, what's out next move?" Sakura asked. Everyone looked at Sakura in shock then slowly looked to Sasuke.

"If he attacks, we attack. Stay a distance from him since his attacks are usually short range." Sasuke replied.

Shikamaru instantly understood the situation while Kiba was extremely confused. Choji kept his mouth shut, though.

Kiba grabbed Sasuke's collar. "Why the hell would Naruto attack us?!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, yanking at Sasuke's arm. Sakura went to stand next to Sasuke, blocking Naruto from Hinata's view.

Kiba went to stand next to Choji, both men reluctantly going into battle position. They all tensed as a spasm went through Naruto's body, but Sasuke told them to wait.

Naruto slowly looked up, peering through the hand that was covering his eyes. He was breathing heavily and his skin was covered in sweat, but his eyes were still blue. He looked at Sakura and Sasuke who were blocking Hinata, and his eyes were full of thanks. Sasuke's expression lightened and he released Hinata. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes momentarily.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, peering at him from around Sakura. Hinata ran over to him, but he looked up at her with an expression that made her stop.

"We need to hurry." He said with emotionless eyes.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Kiba asked Naruto the next morning, shaking his shoulders.

They still had a two day's hike ahead of them, and Naruto was getting worse and worse. Trying to hold back the dark thoughts of Dark Naruto was taking a lot out of him. At this point, he wouldn't be able to run to Suna, therefore lengthening their trip. It was still slightly dark outside.

Hinata walked closely alongside Naruto, steadying him if he started to stumble. Everyone else trudged on forward through the desert while Sasuke lingered behind Naruto and Hinata.

"When I went to the Waterfall of Truth, I had to fight my inner self… that was him."

"Waterfall of Truth?" Hinata asked, turning to look at him.

"If you close your eyes in front of the waterfall, you can see what's inside of your heart. I had to do that in order to learn how to control a Bijuu. It's on Island Turtle in the Lightning Country." He sighed, focusing his mind on every step. "I need to talk to Octopus Dude to see if I need to go back."

"How'd you win?" Kiba asked, standing on Naruto's right side.

"I didn't really fight him, because we had the same abilities. I just told him to become one with me." Naruto replied quietly. "Since he was purely hatred, he was preventing me from controlling Kurama's power, and at that time, Kurama wasn't trying to help me out. So I just erased him, and it was all good."

"Well, I guess he would come back…" Hinata trailed off as Kiba ran to catch up with everyone else.

"What?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Well, at the end of the war, we had to seal your father, Yondaime-sama along with the other Hokage. That could have brought him up… and we suffered considerable losses during that time. It makes sense for him to appear after it's all over and everyone's feelings are still raw."

"I guess you're right." Naruto looked over at Hinata. "How-" he hesitated to ask, but he steeled his nerves and spit it out. "How do you feel about Neji?"

Hinata paused mid-step, but she continued to walk when Naruto glanced at her. "At first, I was… depressed. But, right after it happened I had to be strong for everyone, seeing you had wussed out." They both laughed slightly at that. "But I realized that Neji wanted it that way. He went into the war knowing that he could die. His death wasn't in vain."

Hinata reached out and grabbed Naruto's hand, and he squeezed it back. Like the sunset before, the sunrise was gorgeous. Except this time, it was mostly orange. Above it, there was purple making a semicircle. Yellow and red swirled around it, fading into the orange. Naruto sighed, looking at the sun.

"It's pretty." Hinata said shortly, also gazing longingly at the sun.

"I bet it means more to me than it does you." Naruto stated bluntly, sighing. Yes, the colors of this sun, like the sunset before, had significance. It wasn't like him to realize the depth in things like this, but… he shook his head and began to think about something else.  
The dream was what plagued him. The orange, red, yellow, and purple sunset being a backdrop to the pain, the horror… but it was a dream. Nothing more.

His feet were sinking slightly into the sand as he stepped across it while steering his thoughts and eyes away from the beautiful sight. He looked down at the grains of sand irritating his toes in his sandals. _Sand… that's right… he was a Jinchuuriki also. _Naruto thought absently. _I wonder if…._

* * *

Suna was now in their sights.

The breathtaking walls of the Sand Village somehow blended in yet stood out of the surrounding sand. They were built like giant steps with a corridor in the center. Whenever the wind blew, the village was temporarily hidden from sight.

The sandy wind was a tan curtain to shade the radiance of the village. It fluttered and wavered, distorting the image of those approaching. Each Shinobi Village had its own radiance and the Sand's was simply astonishing in the harsh environment of the desert.

The messenger bird had arrived the day after the Hokage sent it, and the Kazekage was waiting patiently by the gates for Naruto's arrival.

"_A group of our Shinobi including Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino will be visiting Suna for a short period of time. Uzumaki Naruto is wishing to meet with Killer Bee-san, while Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuga Hinata are gathering medicinal plants. The rest of the Shinobi are assigned to escort Uchiha Sasuke." _Is what the letter began with.

_"As discussed before, Uchiha Sasuke will be brought along with this group. Uzumaki Naruto has permission to travel freely throughout the villages from the Hokage, but please feel free to evoke this if you see necessary. – Shizune"_

"Kazekage-sama! Konoha ninjas are at the gates requesting entrance." A Suna Jounin was standing at the door of Gaara's office, bowing to him.

"Let them through." Gaara replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He turned to look at the Jounin, and he scurried out of the door. Gaara sighed. It wasn't like he was _trying _to intimidate people… it just happened.

Gaara followed shortly, weaving his way through the village. People were parting from their crowds and bowing. "Lord Kazekage, Kazekage-sama!" He gave a slight bow back to them and continued on to the front gates. Kankuro and other Suna Shinobi ran after him.

"Gaara!" Kankuro shouted. "You aren't supposed to leave the tower without a guard!"

"Yeah, little bro! Even if some Ninja are puttin' on a show, you gotta stoop low!" Killer Bee said, easily catching up to Gaara. He pulled out a book and then put it away promptly. "No good…" He mumbled to himself about the sad rap that he tried to make.

The Konoha Shinobi were advancing slowly… too slowly. Gaara walked up to greet them and was surprised to see the condition that Naruto was in.

"Yo! What's goin' on, little bro?" Killer Bee greeted Naruto with a fist pound. Naruto lifted his fist and as soon as their hands touched, Killer Bee's eyes widened in understanding.

"The Waterfall of Truth, yo, that's our destination! To aid in your Bijuu's reincarnation!" Killer Bee rapped, slapping both Naruto and Gaara on the back. Naruto stumbled a little and Gaara seemed unfazed.

"The Waterfall of Truth?" Gaara asked, looking between Killer Bee and Naruto. Naruto mentally face-palmed. He didn't want to have to go through the explanation again, but… there was no other way, except wait for Killer Bee to come up with a rap.

"It's a waterfall located on an island in the Land of Lighting. If you sit in front of it, you can see what's deep in your heart." Naruto explained to the group of people. "In order to take control of a Bijuu, you have to defeat whatever emotions are haunting you."

"So that's where you have to go now?" Gaara asked Naruto. He looked up, not waiting for Naruto's answer. Even though Gaara was no longer a Jinchuuriki, he _had been _one. He still had those lingering emotions… ones that all Jinchuuriki had. The abandonment, the hatred….

"Yeah…" Naruto replied, eyeing Gaara.

"Bakayaro, konoyaro!" Killer Bee sang. "You gotta remember what's really hidden in that kokoro!"

Killer Bee and Naruto fist bumped again and then held out his fist to Hinata, who happened to be standing closest to the three. "Yo!" She reached up and bumped her fist against his and her eyes widened in shock.

"Hinata?" Sakura asked, bending her head around to look at Hinata's surprised face. Hinata could hear everything Killer Bee was thinking, and the Hachibi himself greeted Hinata.

She dropped her hand down and looked up to Killer Bee. Then, she looked to Naruto's grinning face, and over at Gaara. He had a small smirk there. She was internally flipping out.

"So, was that one of those, 'Welcome to the club' things?" Kiba asked, looking between the four of them.

"Kinda… I guess…" Naruto said with his hand on the back on his head.

"Naruto, I believe we should head back to the tower to discuss this." Gaara said quietly. But his voice rang with authority and everyone automatically looked at him.

"Yosh!" Naruto said. As soon as he tried to turn around, however, he tripped over his own feet and stumbled. When he finally caught his balance, his hand flew to his head.

Behind his shades, Killer Bee's eyes narrowed. The Hachibi grumbled inside of Bee.

**"Kurama must be hurt pretty badly. He isn't responding to me." **

Bee nodded slightly and slapped a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He didn't say anything – instead, he just grinned to give his reassurance. Naruto smiled a shaky smile back, and Gaara looked over to Hinata.

"I think you should stay with us." Bee nodded in confirmation. "You know what we know now."

Bee was about to bust out in a rap when Ino interrupted. "So we can go back to Konoha?"

"Yes, but I'll need Sakura to stay here." Gaara gestured with his hand to the pink-haired kunoichi. "I've received another report from Hokage-dono. She wants Sasuke and Sakura to guard Naruto if something were to go wrong. Because of that, Sasuke, you're trial will be held off."

Sasuke looked up from whatever he was glaring at. He looked Gaara in the eye and nodded as if to respond, "Okay."

_The darkness, it's still there, but… it's not… _Gaara thought while looking into Sasuke's eyes. _The war has changed all of us._

* * *

"What, is there something on my face?" Sakura after she bowed to yet another Medical Ninja. She was making sure she showed upmost respect, and now Sasuke was glaring at her.

"Yeah, your nose is covered in shit." He replied calmly.

Ino gasped. "What are you trying to say?!"

"You really are a dumb blonde." Sasuke said with sarcastic wonder. "It means you're brown-nosing. Sticking your face in your upperclassman's shit. Trying too desperately to impress them. Do I need to spell it out more?"

Sakura and Ino turned to look at each other. "Did we really used to like this guy?" Ino stage whispered, her eyes darting momentarily to eye Sasuke.

"I think… but now…." Sakura claimed that she no longer had her eyes on Sasuke, and, of course, Naruto no longer had his eyes on Sakura.

"Maybe you should take Lee up on his offer. He was going to take you to that new restaurant, right? I heard it was ultra expensive." Ino whispered to Sakura. Sasuke took the chance to lean against a wall and stare off into the distance.

"I mean, I would but he's a little too intense… don'tcha think?" Sakura asked, walking out of the room with Ino.

"Yeah, with that creepy green jumpsuit… and his eyes! They're perfectly round!"

"No, the biggest problem is his hair. It's so creepy! And then, his eyebrows! They're like weapons!" Sakura realized. "What if he used them as wings?"

Ino shuddered. "But what do you think about Naruto and Hinata?" She asked curiously, wanting to know Sakura's take.

Sasuke still had his face to the sky, but his eyes were looking down to see Sakura's reaction to the question. Truthfully, Sasuke was surprised to see the sudden development between Naruto and Hinata.

"Well actually, I've been waiting for Naruto to notice Hinata for the longest! I mean, she was so obvious! But, guys are oblivious… all of them." She sighed and looked down. "I've been so mean to him… but he still…" Sakura trailed off to look at Ino. "I think it's good he finally noticed Hinata!"

"Oh, I thought you would be sad in the lapse of extra attention!" Ino laughed, and Sakura joined in.

"As if! Naruto's the Number One Unpredictable Ninja!" At that, they chuckled some more, obviously enjoying the gossip.

Ino decided to move on to a heavier topic, however. "What's all that about Naruto 'turning'?"

Sakura became serious and from the corner of her eye, Ino could see Sasuke tense. "He'll have to explain that to you himself. It would be wrong for me to blurt out his personal information." Sakura said with finality.

"But what about Sasuke-kun?"

"He knows too." Sakura muttered. Sasuke walked past them and pushed out the door.

"If we don't fix this, we'll have to kill him. That's that." Sasuke grumbled before slamming the door behind him.

**Also, the rating is subject to change based on later books. If I write the next installment, and its rated M (graphic imagery, overly dramatic drama, extra strong language – no lemon!), then I'll change this rating to M also. **

**My translations and spelling are FAR from perfect, so if you see anything I should change, please tell me. I do know this much, **

**_Kokoro: Heart_**

**_Yosh: All right _**

**_Kunoichi: Female ninja_**

**_Dono: lies between san and sama in terms of respect. San meaning Miss, Mrs., Ms., or Mr. Sama meaning Lord. It was used here to refer to someone (if you're in high rank) to someone equal to you. In modern day, it's used as an exaggeration of age in a joking way. _**

**_Yondiame: Literally translates to "the fourth" used here to refer to "the Fourth" Hokage._**

**As for the whole Killer Bee rap thing, I translate "Bakayaro, konoyaro" to something along the lines of calling someone a "stupid bastard." I know that the official VIZ translation is "Fool ya fool", but "Stupid bastard" is just what I hear, and whenever I translate, I go by my first instinct. Whenever I think too hard, the translation I come up with gets further and further away from the real meaning.**


	4. Chapter 4: Reason

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

**Because of this short chapter, however, I'll post part two of it sooner than usual. **

**Thank you all for the support! **

**Guest: I know Sasuke is being a butt, but I really need his buttiness right now for the progression of the story. I've been trying to figure out how to redeem Sasuke while keeping his personality, and I found a way. In the next chapter and in chapter 7, I think Sasuke really proves himself to be a Konoha ninja. I love your review – mainly because that's exactly what I thought when I finished writing chapter 3. He will have a major attitude adjustment. I guarantee! Hope you stay until then!**

**roy23: Thank you! I'm going to explain in detail what Dark's plan is… because he has a seriously complex plan. Kurama never got his other half back – mainly because of the latest chapter of Naruto, how it leaves off with Minato facing off with Kurama's shadow. I see him – Dark Kurama, as I like to call him – as a mere shadow, therefore, once Minato is dispelled, Dark Kurama's chakra is dispelled also. Also, I explain a little in chapter seven about what Dark was doing all of that time.**

**To everyone else: I love the support! Thank you for everything! In a tight formatting (no spacing, font eleven) this story is already over forty pages – and I started writing this story somewhere in July. I know that may not seem like a lot, but for me it is. I usually write extremely slowly, but I feel like this story is getting somewhere! Arigato! **

** Chapter 4: Reason**

"I AM AWARE THAT THE FALLS OF TRUTH are for those seeking to control the power of a Bijuu, but will it work on other people?" Gaara asked from his spot by the window.

"Why wouldn't it, little bro?" Killer Bee replied to Gaara, dancing a strange little dance by the door of the office.

"Naruto, Bee-san, I understand that you have firsthand knowledge of these falls. What is the overall effect?"

This time, Naruto replied. "Well, it's like any darkness and hatred that you might have deep in there kind of just fades away." Naruto unconsciously reached up and placed his hand over his stomach. "Since Bijuu are usually full of hatred for the world, if you have any in your heart, the Bijuu will grab onto that and use it to control you."

Gaara nodded, having experienced it personally. Naruto continued talking.

"I think you should come with us, Gaara. Since you were a Jinchuuriki, you have felt the same pain as us."

"Yo, that's a good idea, bro!" Bee repeated is weird dance. "Just gotta ride with the flow, and that hatred will go!"

"We should leave tomorrow after sunset. It's easier to travel across the desert at night, and once we cross it, we should be near the port to set off for the Land of Lighting. If we leave from our Eastern border, we should be able to make it in two week's time." Gaara stated, sitting down to write a scroll. "I'll send a message to Hokage-dono to alert her of our departure." Gaara stopped and thought some more. "I'll also send a message to Raikage-dono—"

"No, no, no, wait right there little bro!" Bee spoke up. He didn't feel the need to get permission from his brother. He was entering his own country, after all.

"I see." Gaara said, tossing aside the scroll that he had begun to write on. There was a quiet knock on the door and the three guys looked over suddenly. "You may enter," Gaara said after a slight pause.

Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke were all standing at the door with ANBU escorts. The escorts chakra jumped away, leaving the three to stand there awkwardly in the doorway.

"Yo, gotta let the cat outtta the bag! Can't let this lag any longer, yo!" Killer Bee said, still standing near the door way. Hinata looked over at Naruto since she already knew what was up.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He was about to open his mouth to say something when Hinata bravely cut him off. "So, what's the plan?" she asked, ignoring the deadly looks she was getting from Sasuke. Gaara stood up, sealing the scroll.

"We're going to travel to the Land of Lightning to visit the Falls of Truth." Gaara replied calmly, glancing at Hinata. She nodded.

"So, are we included in this trip?" Sakura asked quietly, standing to the left of Hinata.

"Actually, we needed a Medical Ninja on this trip." Gaara said, working on another scroll. Naruto stood quietly beside him, reading over his shoulder.

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked, looking at the former Nuke Nin.

"He can come along. I believe he's in need of a trip to the Falls of Truth also. The four of us have all suffered that darkness. This is just the kind of trip we need." Gaara sighed, rolling up another scroll and starting on a new one. He handed on to Naruto and turned around. "Would you mind addressing this to the Mizukage on my behalf?" Naruto looked bewildered and glanced down at the scroll.

"Me?!" He managed to choke out glaring at the official looking scroll.

"You want to become Hokage, right? This is part of what comes with being a Kage." Gaara dismissed him, stamping his approval on a piece of paper. His eyebrows furrowed and he tore up a different piece of paper, mumbling, "Idiot. Who would approve that?"

Hinata and Sakura laughed and Sasuke snorted. Naruto was looking increasingly strained, but a look of determination crossed his face and he sat down next to Gaara.

"We just have to finish up this paperwork and then we'll review mission plans." Gaara informed them all. Sasuke nodded and leaned against the doorway, while Hinata and Sakura carried on a quiet conversation.

Gaara's pale green-blue eyes slid over to Naruto slowly and Naruto tensed up. People only gave him that look when—

"So, what's up?" Gaara asked. The underlying meaning was pretty clear. _You know what' I'm talking about. _

Instead, Naruto gave him a look that said, _Who, me? Oh no, you must be mistaken. I don't have the slightest clue! _

The room was completely silent for a number of moments, signifying the creation of an awkward moment. Sakura reached over and elbowed Hinata, and Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. Sasuke had been excluded from the latest gossip; therefore he didn't know much of what happened between Hinata and Naruto. Although he _had _been present when the war was officially declared over… he wasn't completely out of "the-know". They were like a celebrity couple – everyone wanted to know everything that happened between them.

And apparently, the Kazekage hadn't been absent either. There wasn't a Shinobi who fought in the war who _hadn't _seen Hinata fling herself into Naruto's injured arms. He had cringed and caught her, but then she smashed her lips on his, and he ended up falling down. All of the conscious Shinobi had watched in utter amusement at the sight.

Then, to everyone enjoyment Hinata had come to her senses, looked down at the surprised Naruto, jumped up, and fainted – all in about three seconds.

"Ooh, Gaara, wait until I tell you what happened before we left!" Sakura said suddenly grinning. Hinata began to glow bright red and Naruto began to furiously scribble at whatever piece of paper he was working on.

"Wait, was that when they were in the field?" Sasuke spoke up, uncharacteristically interested.

"No, it was before the mission." Sakura chimed, nudging Hinata again.

Naruto paused, remembering the conversation he shared with Hinata during that sunset. His fist clenched and the brush he was writing with snapped in half. Everyone paused at the sound, but he paid them no mind. He was tired of people butting in on his personal business. It had happened since he was born, whether it was negative attention or not.

They always wanted to know where he was, what he was doing… so they could stay away from the Kyuubi kid. When he saved Konoha from certain destruction… that was different. He was finally being acknowledged in a positive way, but people weren't following his every move. Now it just felt like he was being stalked. _And Hinata is too! _He realized.

He calmly reached over and picked up another brush and continued on. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about Hinata, but protective was definitely a word to be used there. Sure, he was protective of all of his friends, but there was something about Hinata…

Killer Bee slapped a hand on the young ninja's shoulder. Hinata watched closely, knowing that this was a way of communication. Naruto didn't flinch but Killer Bee did. He sent reassurance to the younger Shinobi, and nodded in understanding.

Sakura and Sasuke just looked lost and decided to spark up a conversation with the Kazekage. Few people spoke to Gaara on a casual, first name basis.

"I wish there was a better way to communicate. I mean, if something were to happen, the other villages wouldn't know until later." Sakura was saying to Sasuke and Gaara.

"Well, we've been developing a way to communicate without using chakra or birds." Sasuke looked at Gaara in disbelief. "All you have to do is dial the code to a place, and talk into the speaker. The other person should be able to hear you."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Well does it work?"

"So far," Gaara replied, setting his paperwork down. "We're thinking about testing it long distance."

"Wow," Sasuke muttered. "I'm assuming that we can't tell anyone this?"

"Correct."

Everyone in the room let out an "ahh," of admiration.

"Well, what of everyone else?" Sakura asked after a while of silence. The silence was making her uncomfortable. It didn't seem to be affecting Gaara or Sasuke, and Naruto was preoccupied. Bee was writing in a small notebook and Hinata was helping Gaara and Naruto, so Sakura was the only one left to be weirded out. Naruto finished the small stack of paperwork and stared off into space for a while before Sakura's question.

How could Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto stand it – the silence? Sakura was on the verge of bursting out of the room when she realized something. This silence, this emptiness… it was nothing. At least there were people in the room. People who understood each other and supported each other. Replace the people with hatred, replace the support with emptiness, and you have a recipe for an empty soul.

It was the said "empty soul" that Naruto and Gaara were born with. Killer Bee's and Sasuke's came later on. But No one had it as bad as Gaara and Naruto. In fact, it was hard to tell who had it worse.

Naruto grew up with no one. He had no bonds, no one to show him love. He was exiled without even knowing the reason, for he had never raised a finger against a fly.

Gaara had someone – his uncle. His uncle was the only thing holding him to sanity, showing him love. He had nothing of the sort with his father and his mother had died when he was born. Then there was the tattoo he had on his forehead. The night he gave it to himself was the same night that his uncle had tried to murder him. And Gaara, in turn, had killed his assailant.

His uncle had always told him that his mother loved him. But how could she have when she gave him such a horrid name? Gaara, meaning a demon that only loved itself. A selfish, soulless, demon.

The two paths that Naruto and Gaara had taken couldn't have been further apart, yet they both ended up in the same place.

Not to be said that anyone who took Gaara's path would be great, but if it weren't for people like Naruto, Gaara would still be that demon. The demon that needed to kill in order to verify his existence.

In the long run, the two men were tied. Gaara had suffered more, but was rewarded sooner. Naruto had suffered less, and was rewarded later.

Hinata was finishing up with the small stack that she was looking over and glanced up. She noticed Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara all pondering, Killer Bee all going over rhymes, and Sakura staring at Naruto. Hinata met Sakura's eyes and Sakura gave Hinata a sad look.

Her eyes suddenly went downcast, remembering what Sakura told her. Sakura spilled every detail of what happened – along with her personal thought during – while Naruto had lost consciousness and Dark Naruto surfaced.

Where was his unbreakable soul?!

And that's when Sakura decided to break the silence. "Well, what of everyone else?" She asked, tired.

"They should return to Konoha. I believe our party of six should be enough." Gaara replied, standing up. Gaara's voice, which was full of authority, had a certain confident undercurrent to it. _After all, we have the strongest ninja in the world on this team._

* * *

Somewhere – was it appropriate to ask where? – Dark Naruto chuckled, disturbing Naruto's slumber.

** "I'm surprised." **He said simply, causing Naruto to jerk up suddenly. He looked around to see the other occupants soundly asleep. Naruto, Sasuke, Choji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shikamaru were all sharing a room in the Kazekage tower. Was he the only one hearing this?

**"I believe you are." ** The voice answered him. **"You see, I am you. The reverse is the same… for you are me." **It sighed. **"But you can't seem to control yourself – blurting out nonsense, being trustworthy." **

When Naruto didn't answer, it continued. **"Those people, the ones who you call your friends? Well, I'm surprised you don't remember the treatment you received." **

Before Naruto could respond, the images that used to haunt him flashed in his mind. Slowly, they became motions – not just still snapshots. Then, there were the memories that he couldn't remember.

They were there, never having been erased completely from his mind, but he – no human – could dredge up memories from his or her early years. While Naruto watched himself as a small child, all alone in a random home, Dark Naruto kept talking.

**"Don't get me wrong – I'm not evil. I'm just what you really feel. There's nothing wrong with it. You have every right to be upset… if not instantly filled with hatred."**

Naruto could feel the gnawing, aching pain of hunger in his stomach. This was a memory when he hadn't eaten for two days. He was still a toddler, barely able to walk. His appointed "babysitter" was mysteriously absent. He held a hand against his head, once again feeling the pain of abandonment. They continued on, the small clips from his childhood playing behind his eyes.

**"I apologize for pulling up such painful memories, but how else am I supposed to get my point through?" **Dark laughed sadly. **"This 'strength' you get from the people you care about can't erase the past. It's not possible in any way."**

There was a snap, much like the snap of fingers, and Naruto was standing in a darkened room. It was much like the room where Kurama was imprisoned, but there was something different. Instead of being inside the seal, Naruto was now in waist deep water.

Naruto looked up to see Dark standing on top of the water, looking gently down at Naruto.

**"That being said, my creation cannot be erased. If I become 'one with you', if I'm killed, if you go back in time and prevent me from happening – I'll always come back. As long as there's hatred, or regret. I can use that against you… anyone can!" **

Just as Naruto was about to say something, Dark held up a hand. **"No one can have a perfect soul. It's not possible. If the soul is a marble, there are small cracks. Just big enough for something to get in there and grow, making the crack bigger, and bigger, and bigger – until it breaks."**

** "And Jinchuuriki have the marbles with the most cracks. The soul of a Jinchuuriki is one big, pieced together mess. It's just waiting to be dropped or even touched! The slightest brush and it'll fall apart."**

All Naruto managed was a quiet, "Why?" before Dark continued.

**"You were no different. The only thing is, you, like two other Jinchuuriki, sought to kill the hatred and take control of the Bijuu's power. But when I 'became one with you', I never left. Now, if you kill me, you'll take yourself down also. Like kamikaze, in a sick way."**

The implications behind Dark Naruto's words were chilling. "You don't mean—" Naruto clenched his fists. Kamikaze was giving your life up for the greater good… so if he _didn't _destroy Dark…

Dark laughed loudly. **"When I'm freed, I'll just kill everyone. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. Even those who never showed you any prejudice. Humans are such worthless creatures… all are alike, none can be changed." **

Dark's words were striking Naruto like blows from Sasuke's lightning charged sword. The words he shouted were so much like the words Neji had told him when they fought in the Chunin exams. "People can't change." Naruto glared up at Dark, struggling to release his hands from the water. It seemed like as steel vice, clamping on everything that was at Naruto's waist, his hands included. "What do you want?!" Naruto shouted at him, thrashing wildly. "What'll you gain by killing me? Huh?! What good will it do to kill everyone?" But Naruto knew why he wanted to kill. He wanted them to feel the pain they had caused.

Dark sighed. **"But she's shown you too much love. It's killing me. So I'll just kill her. I kill her, you lose it. You lose it, I win. It's easy." **He shook his head regretfully, looking back down at Naruto. He sent a picture of Hinata's smiling face to Naruto. **"I know if you're still sane, you won't let me kill anyone. So, I'll use all of my power to kill her, and then I will no longer have any resistance from you. And I know it works. I've seen it before in you… when she was taken down by Pain." **

Naruto kept jerking, still feeling helpless. He knew that if he was weak on the field of battle, someone might die… but he never thought…. It never crossed his mind that his own weakness would result in death for everyone he cared about – by his hand.

**"Don't worry, Naruto. All I want is to exist. I want to live. I want to know my existence means something, whether it's good or bad. Isn't that what everyone wants?" **

Suddenly, Dark didn't seem evil in Naruto's eyes anymore. "_Isn't that what everyone wants?_" Isn't that what Gaara wanted? He killed in order to verify his existence… to give himself a purpose to live. The same was true for Haku. He fought alongside Zabuza so he would be wanted in the world.

Dark wanted to live and survive. He wanted to know that he existed for a purpose. He was no different than every other person alive…. How was it possible to live if you had no reason to?


	5. Chapter 5: Feeling

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

** Well, I said I would try to keep up with the whole comic relief thing, but this chapter has to be the exception. I mean, there's some, but not much. It's kinda loaded, since I have to make up for the previous short chapter. **

** Chapter length: Unreasonably short – only about four and a half pages, tight format. The next one is long, and chapter seven is even longer. I haven't been feeling well for the past two days – I'm missing school here! – so consider this… I dunno…..**

** Chapter 5: Feeling**

"NARUTO? NARUTO?!" KIBA WAS shouting, violently shaking the blond boy's shoulders. Naruto's endless blue eyes had glazed over, leaving pale orbs in their place.

"Move away." Sasuke commanded at the men gathering around Naruto. When they had woken up from their slumber, Naruto had been sitting up, staring into space. "He's probably been like this for a while." Sasuke shifted his obsidian eyes to sharingan and tried a simple genjutsu on Naruto. There was no affect. "He's unconscious."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Kiba growled. He was still holding Naruto's shoulders when Naruto began to slump.

"Crap, everyone move!" Sasuke shouted, jumping back from Naruto's unconscious form, but Naruto made no move to stand up. Instead, his body hit the floor with a thump.

At the same time, the door opened and Sakura walked in. She was still half-asleep and the scene didn't register in her mind. Hinata and Ino followed her in, all looking slightly disturbed and rubbing their eyes.

"What's going on?" Ino asked, pausing to yawn. When no one responded, she looked around the room. Only then did she see the male Shinobi in various stages, poised to attack.

"Ne?" Hinata asked trying to see around Ino. The three gasped when they saw Naruto on the floor, but he didn't look injured. Before their eyes, he picked himself off of the floor and propped himself with on hand. He ignored the surprised sounds coming from everyone in the room and looked directly at Sasuke.

Naruto murmured something and Sasuke knelt down in front of him to hear.

"Get Hinata out of here. Keep her as far away as possible." Naruto muttered, looking Sasuke directly in the eye.

Was Naruto trusting him? As much as Sasuke despised Naruto, wanted to kill him, Naruto still saw Sasuke as his best friend. And as much as Sasuke refused to face it, Naruto had become his closest friend. Still, it was strange for Naruto to be putting all of his trust into Sasuke.

Everyone watched in awe. Sasuke and Naruto were actually _conversing _– like normal people. They weren't yelling or getting angry.

"She's going with us on the mission to the Land of Lighting." Sasuke said, still staring at Naruto.

"Well get Gaara and tell him to take her off. She's not coming with us." Naruto said with finality.

Finality didn't work on Sasuke. "Damn it, Naruto! Stop beating around the damn bush! Spit it out!" Sasuke shouted at the younger Shinobi.

"You're the only one I can trust with this! I need someone to protect her!"

"From what?!" Sasuke was getting angry, but it faded when Naruto whispered, "From me."

Sasuke stood up and turned to face everyone. "Sakura, stay here. Everyone else, get out." Everybody jumped at Sasuke's forceful voice and began to file out. Shikamaru and Kiba stood in the doorway, refusing to leave.

"I believe I understand this situation and since I am the squad leader, it would be best for me to stay."

"I just what to know what the hell is going on!" Kiba shouted. Sasuke walked up to him and grabbed his collar. He activated his sharingan and looked Kiba in the eye.

"Get out." He let go of Kiba and Kiba growled along with Akamaru. They both left, however. The Shinobi now left in the room were Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.

Sasuke held out a hand to help Naruto up, but Naruto ignored up and found his way to his feet. Sasuke and Naruto shared a glance and began to explain

"I don't see why it's necessary to keep Hinata from going." Sakura said, receiving shocked glances from Naruto and Sasuke.

"I see. What if the reverse is true? What if Hinata's presence keeps him from appearing? That's the exact reason why he wants to dispose of her first, right?" Shikamaru pondered out loud, talking slowly so it could sink in. After a pause, he continued. "He's not an evil mastermind. Obviously, he didn't think about _how _he would kill Hinata."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "Having Hinata around would prevent him from surfacing, so he has no way of surfacing to kill her."

Naruto nodded. He couldn't think about Hinata dying… her pale face even paler, her bright eyes devoid of life….

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, signaling that he had a headache. "When are we leaving?" He asked, looking back to Shikamaru.

"Later today. Gaara, Sasuke, Sakura, you, me, Hinata, and Killer Bee-sama… I think that's it. I was added yesterday after everyone was dismissed." He reported lazily, leaning in the window sill. "I know what the point is, but why do you have to go to the Land of Lightning. It's so troublesome."

"The Land of Lightning is the only place with the Falls of Truth. I doubt if you sit in front of some random waterfall, the same effect will happen." Sasuke muttered earning a sigh from Sakura. At least he wasn't being moody. He was notorious for that.

"I see." Shikamaru sighed, looking out of the window. The sun was a good ways up now and Suna was already bustling with people. "To believe a war just ended."

Sasuke snorted and everyone in the room gave a quiet laugh. Sakura looked towards the door. "Should we report this to Gaara and Bee-san?"

"Nope." Shikamaru replied quickly, popping the "p". "If Naruto wants to tell then, it's up to him." He looked to Naruto and the blonde Shinobi nodded in appreciation.

"I'll tell then on the boat there." At the word "boat" Sasuke paled visibly. "Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"It's nothing. Just… how long is the ride?"

"About two weeks." At that, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I said it was nothing!" Sasuke replied harshly while turning his head away.

"Sounds a little defensive to me." Gaara said suddenly, entering the room with Kiba in tow. Kiba crossed his arms and glared at Sasuke, trying to get back for his previous treatment.

"You told on me to the Kazekage… what good is that going to do for you?" Sasuke looked Kiba up and down making him feel intimidated. Much to Kiba's embarrassment, Gaara turned around and looked at Kiba for an answer.

"Why did you feel the need to invade my office for a small matter?" Gaara asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. But he gave Kiba a half smile to show that he was joking.

Kiba laughed a little and apologized. On his way out, however, he sent a killer glance back towards Sasuke… and he just reflected it back, causing Kiba to cringe.

"It would be best the others are not alerted of this." Gaara said, walking over to where Naruto and Sasuke were standing. The group looked over as Sakura and Hinata entered the room again, this time looking more presentable.

"What's Kiba talking about?" Sakura asked, hopping up into the unoccupied window sill while Hinata stood in the doorway. Killer Bee threw an arm over Hinata's shoulder, leaning in. Then, he leaned against the far wall.

"Like I said before-" Sasuke began when Bee cut him off.

"The Falls of Truth, yo, that's our destination! To aid in his heart's reincarnation!"

"I thought this was about Kurama-sama," Hinata spoke up quietly but strongly.

"The objective changed." Sasuke said sharply, not wanting to explain anything for the blond and slightly winded shinobi.

Hinata's eyes narrowed uncharacteristically. "Well could you at least explain what happened here?" As soon as the words slipped out, she looked down, embarrassed. She murmured a slight apology under her breath.

Everyone in the room – including Gaara – shot Sasuke a dirty look at what had just happened. He sat there and accepted the apology while he was the one who should have been apologizing.

"Don't apologize, Hinata." Naruto growled while glaring Sasuke another dagger. But the dagger wasn't that sharp, because Naruto knew that if anything went wrong, Sasuke would fulfill his promise. After all, Naruto would be dead. Isn't that what Sasuke wanted?

The moment of silence that extended after that was deafening in itself, even without the hot desert wind flowing through the open window. Everyone in the room silently cursed whoever decided to open the window in the first place. The wind was doing nobody a favor by allowing the room to be coated in a thin layer of dust. The breeze was not refreshing at all, yet, the opposite.

"Someone close the window!" Gaara startled everyone with his demand. His pale green eyes were glaring at it as if it was evil. "It's just blowing hot air around!"

Everyone nodded frantically in agreement – the room felt hotter with the window opened.

But just as Sakura hopped down from the sill to close the window, a sudden rush of stale air blew through the window, sending sand flying into everyone's faces.

"Why?!" Naruto cried as he clamped his eyes shut to avoid getting sand in his eyes. Everyone else did the same while Sakura blindly slammed the window shut. "Ah…" Everyone joined Naruto in a sigh of relief… all except Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara, Gaara of the Desert, had his eyes clamped shut in pain.

"What happened?" Sakura asked in alarm, turning to look at the young Kazekage. It was hard to address him formally when he was the same age she was.

"…" He didn't respond, but when he tried to open his eyes, they snapped shut again.

"Oh! I know what happened!" Naruto said, sighing and staring at Gaara with pure amusement dancing in his eyes.

"What?" Hinata was still in shock from the random turn of events.

"He got sand in his eyes! Duh." Everyone turned to look at Gaara with shock.

"Shut up!" He grumbled, still trying to keep his composure.

"Apparently you don't know how to get sand out of your eyes!" Naruto laughed, slapping Sasuke on the back in the process. Sasuke had his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his smirk.

"H-how? I mean, if you control sand…" Hinata asked, barely containing her laughter.

"I think..." long pause, "my sand didn't see it as an enemy…" ultra long pause, "and decided to let it through."

By the end of the explanation, however, everyone was already cracking jokes on the poor Kage. He was so shielded from the world…

* * *

As the group prepared for the mission they were to embark on later that day, the prying eyes of Kiba and Ino followed them around the Kazekage tower. The Suna ninja were a wreck knowing that their Kazekage would be leaving them for a month's time. Kankuro (much to the council's dismay) would be in charge of minor decisions the Kazekage would normally make. If anything big came up, Gaara was to be alerted immediately.

But no details of the mission were leaked out to the two Konoha ninja. Choji had reprimanded them by saying, "You shouldn't pry. You heard Sakura – Naruto will tell you when he's ready." But, alas, they had ignored him, ending up in their current position – staring into the terrifying eyes of Ibiki, head of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force.

"Ibiki-sensei!" Kiba shouted, surprised.

"W-what are you doing here s-sensei?" Ino trembled a little. Ibiki was a Konoha ninja… so what was he doing in Suna?

"What, I can't visit other villages?" He asked, laughing. Ino and Kiba sweat dropped. If he was as bad as Kakashi told them… he was a sadist. But anything less wouldn't make for a good head of the Torture and Interrogation Force. "I'm here to meet with Kazekage-sama and Uzumaki Naruto. That kid's really risen in the ranks! So has Haruno! Uchiha too… but he really killed his reputation. Before all of that, he used to have you little girls kissing the ground he walked on."

Sakura flinched slightly as she saw Ibiki standing in the hallway with Kiba and Ino. She wasn't over Sasuke yet… but she felt like she needed to be. Everyone else had moved on. Sasuke was still admired for being elite, but he was a rouge. People feared him more than worshiped.

But the connection the village folk had towards Naruto… now _that _was worship.

She ducked back into the room, running into Hinata in doing so.

"Oh, sorry, Sakura!" Hinata apologized, stepping back and bowing. But Sakura grabbed her, shoved her out of the way, and slammed the door shut – effectively locking the two girls in the room. As soon as that was over, Sakura could feel tears filling up and threatening to spill over. "What happened?" Hinata asked, guiding the semi-hysterical girl over to a seat.

"It's just…. I-I can't…."

"Sasuke," Hinata stated, looking Sakura in the eye. "It's about Sasuke." Hinata pulled over an abandoned box to sit on so that she could look Sakura in the eye.

"I just… I want to get over him! I know it's no good to be following him around… when… he's tried to kill me! He's tried to kill Naruto!" Sakura sniffled. "I've hurt you, too."

Before Hinata could protest, Sakura continued. "I let Naruto follow me around like that… I made him make that promise – to bring Sasuke back. In that… he didn't even know about you – how you love him." Sakura wiped some tears away but her eyes were still downcast.

"In that promise, neither of us thought that Sasuke was really… really… that he really had his mind set on that revenge. I never knew that the history of his clan was so detailed in its relations with Konoha."

Hinata spoke up finally, getting Sakura to look at her. "You wouldn't have known about the secret behind the Sharingan! None of us knew!" Sakura looked at her fellow kunoichi in shock. "The Uchiha… they have big hearts! The smallest little fracture and they're damaged. How would us, a group of naïve gennin and one chunin, known?!" Hinata grabbed Sakura's shoulders. "It's okay to love Sasuke. Just remember that he's going to hurt you. He's Sasuke."

Sakura looked up at Hinata once again, hope dancing in her eyes. Hinata realized that she had just made a speech and blushed, looking away. "Gomen!"

"No, Hinata, you're right! I- I just have one question." Sakura was deadly serious when she asked this. "How are you in love with Naruto… knowing that he was hopelessly in love with me?"

"I-" The door opened and the two Kunoichi tired to act as if they hadn't just been talking about the guys they loved. A random Suna ninja bowed and deposited a box by the window sill. As he left, Naruto shouted down the hall, "Hinata-chan? Sakura-chan?" it was followed by a dull, "thud," and a murmured, "ouch! Sorry, okay?"

Sasuke and Naruto appeared at the far end of the hall, both moving supplies to the storage room. "I don't see why we have to hurry up and get this stuff done before we leave. Can't everyone else just do it so we can hurry on our mission?" Naruto was talking Sasuke's ear off and Sasuke replied with and indifferent, "Hm."

"But I can trust you, right? With that promise?" Naruto's voice turned serious as they stopped to open the storage room door. Hinata and Sakura ducked and hid when the pair of shinobi entered the room.

"Hm."

"No, seriously! I mean, if something goes wrong at the Falls…"

"Yeah. I get her out of the way and kill you. Just gotta make sure Hinata doesn't get hurt. Got it." Hinata and Sakura both suppressed gasps.

"Thanks." Naruto set down a box and dusted his hands off. "I don't think it's wise to hide there. You'll get dust in your hair." He said to a random box in the corner. Sakura pushed Hinata's head down and instead stood up herself.

"I'll try to take up on your advice." Sakura quipped, dusting herself off. "For your information, I was looking for something. I dropped one of my special senbon down there. I got it, though."

"Is that why you stayed quiet?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his midnight eyes.

"No, I just didn't want to interrupt your heated conversation. It's impossible to hide from you two."

"And yet you joined Kiba in the argument that I _wasn't_ elite. Very smooth, Sakura-chan." Naruto walked out of the room, throwing his hands behind his head. Sasuke took one last look at the box next to Sakura and reluctantly walked out of the room. As soon as they were a good distance away, Hinata popped up, shaking the dust from her dark hair.

"Did he just…?" Hinata asked, referring to what Sasuke said.

"Apparently so."


	6. Chapter 6: In Your Head

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

**Chapter length: medium-long. It's a little on the long side, about six pages in tight formatting. Which means the little scroll bar is going to be a good size. I kinda feel bad for ending that conversation, so Sakura does get bashed – by Hinata – in chapter eight. I couldn't let Sakura get away with that.**

**I'm just going to apologize for any overly cheesy or awkward scenes in this chapter. Just... just to be safe.**

**Chapter 6: Inside of your head **

Hinata and Sakura slowly left the room after hearing that small piece of Sasuke and Naruto's conversation.

"W-we shouldn't jump to conclusions…" Hinata said to Sakura as they hesitated to exit in the hall.

"But… Does Naruto think he might hurt you?"

"I don't know! I'm just as confused as you are!" Hinata rubbed her temples, searching her mind for any evidence that could connect to what Sasuke had said. "_Yeah. I get her out of the way and kill you. Just gotta make sure Hinata doesn't get hurt. Got it._"

Had Naruto really made Sasuke promise to keep Hinata away from him?

"Maybe that's what they were yelling about this morning." Sakura pondered, sighing.

"But… why?" Hinata opened the door, despite the terror she had. Out in the hallway, she could see Naruto and everyone else, standing around and joking.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Ino shouted, waving. "Naruto said that he saw you, but couldn't find Hinata!"

"Ha…" Sakura gave a weak laugh and nudged Hinata to do the same. Hinata also laughed, but she looked like she had just witnessed a murder. Her pale lavender eyes were as wide as they could go, looking at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, trying to see her through her curtain of hair. "What happened?" He was serious now, looking around for any potential threat.

"N-nothing! I saw a rat." The lie was weak and Naruto looked at her with pure disbelief in his eyes. When she looked up to meet his eyes, she could see what he was thinking.

"We're leaving! What are you two doing, standing there? Let's go!" Sakura shouted, herding Sasuke and Shikamaru away. Ino and Kiba moved back.

"I still don't see why we can't go!" Ino sighed, gazing after the group leaving.

"Ugh… well, look at the bright side! We're in charge of the tower with Kankuro until they get back!"

"I guess you're right." Ino mumbled, walking back towards the rooms. Hinata and Naruto jogged to catch up to everyone, just in time to get the tail end of what Shikamaru was saying.

"—After that, we'll board the boat. Of course, we'll stock up on food." He stopped and turned around when Naruto and Hinata ran up. Everyone had giant scrolls on their backs in which their luggage was sealed.

"Naruto, you've been on a trip to the Land of Lightning before, so I'm assuming you know the ropes."

"Don't remind me. I was stuck on the boat with Guy-sensei… he didn't tell us that he had seasickness." Everyone gave Naruto an apologetic look. "It was disgusting. And then this creep convinced me to get these mushrooms, but they turned out to take everything over… they were disgusting."

Everyone started up in another round of conversation while Naruto animatedly re-told his stories aboard Konoha's ship to the Land of Lightning.

It was a day's trip to the docks from Suna in the Wind Country, but the trip would end up being four weeks instead of two. Had they left from the Fire Country, the trip would have been halved… and the amount of money spent on food would have been, too.

"What does the island look like, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked Naruto on the third day of the trip. Everyone was already tired of being on the water and every time they passed an island, everyone gazed at it longingly until it disappeared from their sights.

"It's not really an island… it's a giant turtle. It's always moving, and only those in Kumo know the location of it. I mean, the only reason we know about it is because Octopus has a home there." He replied, leaning over the railing of the boat and letting the ocean breeze brush through his hair. "But… I guess it's a lot like the Forest of Death back in Konoha."

Hinata couldn't help but notice how his eyes blended into the water, giving his head the appearance that there were two windows that looked through to the ocean.

"There's a temple just for Bijuu training, too."

"Ah." Hinata sighed, leaning against the railing with him. Hinata looked over at Naruto, debating with herself whether or not to ask. She and Sakura had asked Shikamaru what happened with Naruto and Sasuke, and while Shikamaru didn't say that he knew, the, "He'll tell you if he wants," really stated that the information was semi-public.

The trip was very tense, Sakura was avoiding Naruto and he was trying to figure out what was going on. He knew that she had heard the conversation, however. Naruto sighed.

"Ever want to just… grow wings and fly away? Just take off and never come down?" He asked her suddenly, turning slightly to see her reaction.

"N-no. Because if you run, then you'll never get anything done." She answered quickly, as if she'd thought about it before.

"Heh." Naruto laughed, looking away. "Sometimes, even though I remind myself that, I wonder… if I could fly… I'd fly away and never come down." He turned to look at her. "And sometimes I feel like… nobody would miss me."

Hinata's eyes widened suddenly.

"It's almost as if… what I've tried so hard for… is no longer possible. I've always wanted to protect those close to me, but now – how do you suggest I protect someone from myself?"

Hinata looked up at the sky, so similar to the ocean, and very similar to Naruto's eyes. "You shouldn't have to. Because, deep down, you know that you wouldn't hurt them."

"How do you put so much trust—"

"How could I not?!" Hinata grabbed his wrist again and used her other hand to make him look her in the eye. Everyone was now moving closer to hear. Sasuke jumped on the superstructure, which was right next to the pair.

"Naruto-kun! Because I love you!"

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune gasped at what Tsunade was suggesting. "Y-you can't mean… you should think this through!"

"I have! The villagers love him more than they love me! He's grown un, Shizune!" Tsunade slammed her hands down on the desk, forcing it to bend from the force. "You know he's like a son to me! I know more than anyone that he's ready!"

"But… well… he doesn't make the best decisions! And the whole thing with the Falls of Truth… what if it fails?"

"It won't fail. And plus, he has Shikamaru. He's the smartest ninja alive right now. At thirteen, he had an IQ of over 200! He's a genius! He won't let Naruto stray off his path. Plus, Sakura and Sasuke are there too."

"Sasuke, Tsunade-sama?"

"Yep! Oh please, don't tell me you're afraid Sasuke'll turn on us. I'm just saying that because I doubt Gaara'll give him a long sentence." Tsunade sat back down, pulling a drawer out. She placed the traditional Hokage robes on the desk and on top of it, the red and white hat that read, "Fire". Next to it, there was a orange robe with black flames on the tail. Going straight down the back, it had the words, "Sixth Hokage."

"But… wouldn't he be the Seventh Hokage?" Shizune asked, reading what the robe had to announce as Tsunade refolded the robe.

"How can you consider that old war hawk Rokudaime?" Tsunade gave Shizune an incredulous look and continued making everything neat.

"Gomensai, Tsunade-sama, but… don't you think it's a little early? I mean, our youngest Hokage was Yondaime…"

"Minato was a very responsible young man! Early?! Look at Gaara!" Tsunade threw down the robe and then scrambled to pick it back up. "He was elected Kazekage at fifteen! Don't give me that, 'oh, it's too early!'"

"So you're-"

Tsunade turned her steely hazel eyes on Shizune. "When he gets back to Konoha, we'll have his Inauguration a month after. It's a done deal. I even talked it over with the elders and the Daimyo of the Fire Country."

Shizune smiled. "He'll make a great Hokage. I just wish…."

"Kakashi… Minato…" Tsunade sighed, looking out of the window that backed her desk. "I'm sure they'll be proud."

* * *

Naruto's mouth fell opened. He had heard these words only once before… coming from the exact same mouth they were now. Hinata was blushing furiously, but she wasn't anywhere near passing out.

"How could you believe that you wouldn't be missed?! If no one misses you, remember that I would! I trust you with my life! I trust you more than any number of my comrades! Never give up, never back down – isn't that your Ninja Way? _Our _Ninja Way?!"

Tears were now streaming down her crimson face. "How could you even ask that? What've you been thinking for the past year?!" She began to say something else, but she stopped as the tears were becoming too much for her to handle. Two strong arms grabbed her and she "thumped" into a broad chest. She gripped at his shirt and cried as he placed his head on top of hers.

"Okay everyone, let's leave the happy couple alone." Shikamaru said, already walking towards the cabins. A wide eyed Sakura reluctantly followed as Sasuke hopped down from his perch. Killer Bee began writing another rap inspired by their words, while Gaara just shook his head.

Hours later, Naruto and Hinata came to their senses. The sun was already setting, giving the sky a murky, grayish look. There was the slight sliver of orange as the sun was sliding below the horizon.

"You should go clean up," Naruto whispered to Hinata, referring to her tear-stained clothing and face.

"What about—"

"I'm fine. I think I'll stay out here a while longer." He sighed, getting up and extending a hand to help her up.

"Y-you know… e-everyone saw what happened e-e-earlier…" Hinata began to blush when Naruto laughed, his voice echoing on the empty deck.

"Yeah, so?" His endless eyes looked into her pale lavender ones, prying for an answer. "You're not embarrassed – are you?"

"K-kinda…"

"Oh… sorry. I gotta take responsibility for that one." He put one hand behind his head while the other still firmly grasped Hinata's.

"N-no, it's okay. As long as they don't go spreading rumors… I'm fine." Just then, there was an island appearing over the darkening horizon.

"I think we're stopping at that island. We have to stock up on materials and stuff." Naruto sighed, thinking of the first time he sailed this route. "We'll be stuck in fog after this… really, there's only one way there."

"Really? Oh… I guess I'll get some sleep then." Hinata said, regretfully leaving Naruto to stand alone on the ship's deck. His form was silhouetted by the starlight – there was no moon out tonight. He just looked so… lonely.

But she went in to the girls' cabin, sinking down in her cot and letting sleep take her.

* * *

That morning, Hinata realized that the strange, erratic rocking of the boat had stopped – in its place was a gentle swaying feeling. When she looked around the room, she could see Sakura preparing to leave. Hinata sat up and shook her bedraggled hair out, trying to focus her eyes.

"We arrived at the dock last night. Were you still awake?"

"I saw the island, but I came to go to sleep." Hinata realized that Sakura wasn't asking any prying questions.

"The guys already left. They were up first thing in the morning. Ugh – I'll never understand them." She looked over at the blue haired girl. Hinata seemed slightly sad in the medic's eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Hinata trailed off, deep in thought.

"You wanna talk about it?" Sakura asked, tossing Hinata a tank top. "I don't recommend a jacket. This island takes a whole new meaning to, 'tropical'. Oh, and don't forget to use repellant – there are mosquitoes everywhere."

"Not right now. Why are we getting off the boat again?"

"You don't want to get off?! We're just gonna shop, get some girl supplies, food, clothes, and meet the guys back on the boat. I'm sure you heard about what comes next. The final leg of the trip is going to be the longest."

The two kunoichi hopped off of the boat, landing on an unreasonably flat island. There were few trees and knee high grasses. Beautiful yellow flowers were enlaced in the grass and there was a pleasant ocean breeze flowing over the plains.

"It says here that there's a little village north of here. This island doesn't seem to be too big, though." Sakura said, looking at a map that the captain had supplied her with.

"I think we should try to meet up with everyone else, in case we need to contact them." Hinata suggested, taking in the breathtaking island.

The two kunoichi took off, but as soon as they began to move down a slope, they could see a confrontation happening.

Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, and Bee were all standing side by side, prepared to attack a group of rough looking ninjas. They were from various villages, based on their forehead protectors. Shikamaru was behind the line, obviously thinking up a strategy. Suddenly, two hands popped out from under ground, grabbing Naruto and Sasuke's ankles. They were dragged below the surface of the ground before either of them could fight back. In their place was a former Stone ninja. He didn't look as gruff as the other ninja, so it could be safely assumed that he was their leader.

"Would you look at that? Were those two Uchiha and Uzumaki? The ones in the book?!"

"Ooh, you mean those two! They have the highest bounties on their heads on record!" Two of the ninja were conversing excitedly, but when Gaara came at them with his sand, they swiftly avoided. "Woah, there! Aren't you the Kazekage?!" One chirped, pretending to shield his eyes from the sun.

"It is! He's third in the books!"

"We're lucky! And he's better looking than they say!" Everyone cringed, for this was a guy speaking.

"Heh, let's get 'em!"

Their leader spoke up, however. "Wait. You two can't even think about taking on the Kazekage, let alone the two I just caugh—"

The ground split in two beneath Sakura's fist as she attempted to free Sasuke and Naruto. They could both be seen, but they didn't seem to be moving.

"Sorry girly. I took every precaution. I masked my chakra, hid beneath the surface, and prepared two, heavily poisoned senbon to inject into the soles of these lucKai ninja's feet. I knew that if I placed my men there, Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun would stand right here. Easy."

Everyone, including Shikamaru, was shocked. The only ninja known to think that far ahead was Shikamaru, yet even he wouldn't have thought about hiding under the dirt for what seemed like hours. Either this guy was really evil… or really desperate.

Suddenly, as the desperate leader was about to attack, two girls seemed to materialize out of nowhere. One swiftly grabbed the leader's wrist and snapped it while the other drop kicked him, causing his back to bend – all in one second.

Then, before Sakura and Hinata could blink, they were depositing Naruto and Sasuke at their feet. Gaara, Bee, and Shikamaru also landed next to Hinata and Sakura.

"You guys really shouldn't involve yourselves with these guys. They seem dumb, but they're some of the best ninja around. That guy killed three whole clans of ninja in one night… I heard his father was the reason for the fall of Uzushiogakure." The girl speaking had the signature dark skin of the people in the Land of Lightning. Her eyes were striking. They were light brown, almost hazel, with green and gold specks. Her hair was dark and in braids.

The other girl was taking care of the two idiot cronies. She swiftly ended one guy's life while easily beating the other. Her hair was in brown ringlets and her skin was a creamy mocha. Her eyes were only slightly darker than her skin and she wore glasses.

"Are you from around here?" Hinata asked, looking at the girl's striking eyes.

"Not at all. We actually learned Ninjutsu from a country so far away you wouldn't believe it." The girl with the curly hair said, landing next to Hinata and making her jump.

Sakura was still poised to attack. If this guy was as dangerous as they said… that means this pair of girls were….

"Your chakra levels…." Hinata began, backing up.

"I know… we don't know why ourselves. We came here to find out." The one with the jewel-like eyes spoke up.

Sakura didn't say anything up until now. "What is your relation to those ninja?"

The girl with the eyes seemed slightly irritated. "What's your relation to Uzumaki and Uchiha here? Or are you the medic? The girl who took after the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade?"

"What does it matter if I am?"

"Well, I'll have you know, we were in the war, believe it or not. We did not fight actively, however. And it didn't look like you were saving _any _lives." She was about to continue when the other girl put a hand on her shoulder.

"They call me 'K'." She said, focusing her bespectacled gaze on Sakura.

The girl with the eyes spoke up. "I'm 'C'. Our clan was wiped out by a group of those jerks. We focused on healing techniques, and most of them had no fighting experience. There were eleven of us; our names represent our rank as warriors. We're the only two remaining along with another girl, Kai. She wasn't a 'Ninja' though. She was exceptional in fighting and she's the only reason that we're alive. She's back home, because of her mind… what she saw… but she can heal any wound. If you help us, I'm sure Kai will help out Konoha. She was the best out of all of us."

Hinata nodded slightly as C continued. "We know how to get rid of the poison out of these two." Sakura grunted.

"I'm a medic. I'll work on them right away—"

"That would be all right, if you had experience with this type of poison. This one only works if injected through the soles of feet and once in the blood stream, it attacks nerve and brain cells. Once it reaches your brain, you're fried." Hinata and Sakura both gasped and Hinata turned on her Byakugan.

"It looks like… chakra…."

"Yep!" K spoke up. "We call it Deadly Chakra, because of that." She kneeled down next to Naruto and focused chakra to her hands. It was a beautiful purple color, but turned crimson when she began removing the poison from Naruto.

C leaned down over Sasuke, doing the same. Sasuke's eyes flew opened and darted around, landing on C. He turned to Mangekyou Sharingan and was about to shoot her with Amaterasu when she smiled at him. "If you do that, you lose your only chance to live."

He snapped his eyes back to normal as he felt the pain in his legs release. Naruto was already sitting up, confused as to what had happened.

"I'm K." The girl spoke up, responding to Naruto's surprised reaction.  
"C!" C called, still focusing on getting the poison away from Sasuke's heart. "Any longer and you guys would have been toast!"

"Where do you guys come from?" Sakura asked curiously, watching C perform the procedure.

"I don't really know what you guys call it. It was kinda a group of islands. There was only one island that was inhabited. Since only our clan lived there, it was called the Isle of Si- Sil- S-…"

"The Isle of Silver." K said, sighing. "For some strange reason, C can't say it, or she freaks out." As she explained, C was suppressing a squeal of panic. "They're called, 'Fangirl Rules'."

"Fangirls have rules? I thought it was just squealing and annoying the life out of people." Naruto said with Sasuke nodding in agreement.

"Well, we don't have time to explain right now. The main force of those creeps is on the move. We just gotta find them and kill them." C said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"You shouldn't take revenge." Sasuke said quietly. "It'll eat away at you until you can no longer see your true self."

C looked at him in false disbelief. "Really? No. We need to avenge our clan, and we don't care how it happens." She ended seriously, glaring at Sasuke.

For the first time, the Kazekage spoke up. "Where is your next destination?"

"The Island Turtle. But, of course, we can't find it without a guide." C's eyes drifted to Killer Bee. "If I'm not mistaken, you're the Hachibi's Jinchuuriki."

"If it's all okay, we'll show you lovely ladies the way!" Bee rapped. C and K looked at each other and back to Bee.

"Okay?"

"Killer Bee, that's me!" He sang, reaching his fist out to C and K. "Yo!"

Everyone went through the introductions, explaining their name and occupation. The group kept heading towards the town.

"We shouldn't travel with you – after all, we're rouge ninja." K said quietly to Hinata.

"Yeah, this is where we go our separate ways!" C called from near Sakura. "But, I need to talk to Uzumaki here." She turned to Naruto and he turned around and everyone stopped, wanting to hear what she had to say. "You don't look like an Uzumaki." She gestured to his hair.

She narrowed her eyes at him something seemed to dawn on her.

"Ah, you look just like the Fourth Hokage. Do you know what really happened to your clan's homeland?" Naruto narrowed his eyes in distrust but answered.

"Yeah. It was destroyed during the World Wars because some nations saw it as a threat… why?"

C smiled. "Your clan was a lot like mine – longevity, a specialization. There was one man… one man who decided to wipe out your homeland under the cover of war. You guys are lucky though – there are survivors of your clan everywhere. Look at Uchiha – how many are left?" She looked over to Sasuke and back to Naruto.

"All you have to do – all I'm asking you to do is to gather up every remnant of your clan you can find. We're going to help you take back Uzushiogakure. You should watch out, too, Huyga. We'll call it, The Secret of the Clans." With that, C was disappearing in a swirl of leaves, along with K, leaving Naruto and Hinata dumbfounded.

"Well… I know where..." He began to say, running a hand through his bright blonde hair.

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked him, looking up from the spot where C had been.

"Well, I never really knew much about my mother's clan… I guess I'll help, though. But that's after we get everything sorted out first." He put both of his hands behind his head, deep in thought. "I mean, we already have Karin… I knew Nagato was an Uzumaki, but he died. He had the Rinnegan, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Hinata replied while picking up stray kunai. "Those girls were strange… should we trust them?"

"We should." Gaara said, startling everyone. "They seemed trust worthy. I don't see any harm in gathering up the rest of your clan, Naruto."

"I do." Shikamaru was speaking for the first time during this whole ordeal. "What if once you gather everyone, they ambush to finish you all off? Uzumaki are known for their Sealing Techniques and longevity. It's only natural for people to want to steal the secrets of your clan."

"The girl, C, she specializes in Genjutsu." Sasuke stated bluntly. "I could see it in her eyes – there was a buildup of chakra. She wasn't completely lying when she said that her clan specialized in healing techniques… but…"

"Ah!" Sakura's eyes lit up in realization. "She must have a Kekkei Genkai! What other reason would her clan be targeted for?"

"Clans with powerful bloodline limits such as the Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Huyga were often targeted because they were seen as a danger. Hinata, if I remember correctly you were kidnapped when you were younger by Kumo ninja, right?" Shikamaru looked at Hinata for an answer.

"Y-yeah…"

"See? It's also suspicious that the Huyga clan is still functioning. Uzumaki and Uchiha, along with Huyga are considered some of the most powerful clans in history. First, Uzushiogakure was targeted. Then, if Itachi hadn't wiped out the Uchiha, I'm guessing they would have been next. Now, Huyga might be somewhere at the top of their hit list."

"We should relay this information to Hokage-dono. I believe this information is crucial – especially since there's a possibility Konoha could be attacked." Gaara stated, already pulling out a scroll. Naruto reached up and bit his thumb, causing a thin trickle of blood to erupt from it. He weaved a set of hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A little toad popped up from where Naruto's hand once was.

"Hey, I was summoned! Naruto-sama, you'd better have a good reason! I was enjoying—"

"Sorry, sorry, but I need you to get this scroll to Tsunade-baachan! Tell her it's urgent!" Naruto said, handing the little toad the scroll that Gaara had handed him.

"Ah, okay." And with that, the toad disappeared.

"Let's move on so we can hurry and get to Island Turtle." Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome girls."

**So… that was the end of chapter 6. I'm not very pleased with myself. I mean, yeah it was a long chapter… but…. I mean, I don't like this chapter. I didn't like writing it; I didn't like re-reading it… I just needed a bridge from chapter five to chapter seven. **

**The reason I'm not writing in the enemy's point of view is because the enemy is still unknown to the main characters. **

**I'm also sorry for Naruto's lack of speaking lines whenever OC's pop up… I just… I don't know how to fix it. I mean, I'm not sure how to make them interact. I mean, I guess it's something that happens to me when I write.**


	7. Chapter 7: Confessions

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

**I'm aware that the Naruto manga is SO CLOSE to ending, so I'm going to set the record straight – this is my take on the ending of the war. **

** When I started writing the second book to this series, I focused it solely on Naruto and Hinata. Because… there's not too much romance in this one. **

** I am sooooo sorry for the late update! School's been killing me and chores are psycho. So, here's a long chapter! **

**Chapter length: Unreasonably long. I kept remembering all of the stuff that I had to put in here that I didn't write down in the first place… sorry in advance. I feel really good and bad at the same time… it's strange. This is almost as long as the first chapter.**

**Chapter 7: Confessions**

That night just kept playing in her mind.

Sure, it was unreasonably embarrassing, but she would take it anytime. Just sitting there, in Naruto's embrace, made her feel like she was invincible. Like nothing would ever hurt her… ever.

Joining her on the boat's deck tonight was Sakura. Sakura felt like someone who she could talk to. Sure, she would never understand the position that Sakura was in, but she could try. Sakura was one of Naruto's closest friends – and vice versa. She knew Naruto – the stuff he's done, how he thinks. Based on that, she could give Hinata spot-on advice about what to do in certain situations.

But this situation was something no one could fix. There was a possibility that the Huyga clan would be attacked, along with the revelation that the Uzumaki clan could take their land back. And there was the knowledge that there were rampant serial killers looking to destroy the most powerful clans – that was one too.

But what Hinata couldn't shake what she had been told. _"She's back in the Isle of Silver, because of her mind… what she saw…" _Was the invasion enough to drive their most valuable clan member to insanity? But if that was true, how were C and K so… passive? Was it like Shikamaru said – they were just con-artists, trying to get insider information so they could invade?

Or were they really trying to help Konoha?

If so, what relation did they have with Konoha? Were they in debt? Did they feel compelled to help? But they didn't give any information to Gaara, who was obviously the one of true authority in the group. They seemed _too _interested in "Uzumaki" and "Uchiha".

There was something wrong with that.

"Hinata? Everything okay?" Sakura asked, leaning on the railing next to Hinata. It was late in the night and Sakura was wearing her pajamas and rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah! For me, at least… I'm worried about everyone at home, though… and then those girls…."  
"They might target us again." Sakura continued, sighing.

"I was thinking about that. I was wondering what could have driven them to suddenly want to revive the Uzumaki clan. I mean, the Uchiha clan is pretty much beyond saving… but Uzumaki…."

"I was thinking about that, too. If they do attack, though, the only thing they have over us is their speed. And the guys who attacked us – their speed was unreasonable! Is that another ability their clan has, do you think?"

"That means they have longevity, specialize in healing techniques, and have incredible speed."

"And godlike chakra." Sakura added.

"So, like the Uzumaki clan, they're very powerful. Except that Uzumaki specialize in sealing techniques – and they have their collection of masks…."

"I never learned about that…" Hinata sighed, looking back towards the doors that lead to the cabins.

"I've only heard about it. I doubt Naruto or Karin would know, either… Sasuke-kun knows, though. Because of Orochimaru." They both shuddered at the thought.

"So Naruto-kun is going to look into it after we return from the Falls?"

"That's my guess." Sakura laughed suddenly. "What are we doing, talking about serious stuff like this? We're on a vacation of sorts! We're supposed to sit back and relax until something comes up that requires our assistance. So far, nothing – besides that scuffle that happened today – has! Let's get some rest."

Together, the two girls returned to their cabins, still wondering what the "Secret of the Clans" actually was.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune once again came bursting through the door, shocked. In one hand, there was a small toad, and in the other, a message from the Kazekage.

"Huh… what?!" She said, eyeing the embroidered scroll questioningly. "You don't suppose they ran into something, do you?"

"I don't know. You're supposed to read the scroll."

Tsunade performed a series of quick hand signs and the scroll unrolled, revealing Gaara's neat handwriting.

_Hokage-dono, I believe it is imperative you, as Naruto said, "Beef up the security" in Konoha._

_ On a remote island located near the sea route to Island Turtle, our team encountered two Kunoichi, claiming to be from the former Village of Shizukesa _(serenity) _located on the Isle of Silver. The claimed that the most powerful clans were once again being targeted by an unknown organization. One of the Kunoichi claimed that only her, the Kunoichi traveling with her, and the strongest of her clan were still alive._

_ She also spoke of the "true" reason the Uzumaki clan were scattered. Her parting words were, "_All you have to do – all I'm asking you to do is to gather up every remnant of your clan you can find. We're going to help you take back Uzushiogakure. You should watch out, too, Huyga. We'll call it, The Secret of the Clans." _Which were spoken directly to Naruto and Hinata. We believe they are plotting something along the lines of attacking Konoha, although their motives are still unclear. _

_ We have not made a decision on whether or not to trust them, but since your chief interrogator is in Suna, I am thinking about talking with them on coming back to be interrogated. If they are truthful, no harm will befall them and we'll help them "revive" their clan. _

_ We have reason to believe Konoha will be attacked, however. If it's not by the mysterious women, then it will be by the organization's hand. We also have reason to believe that Naruto will take their side. They spoke of the Uzumaki clan, the supposed "truth" of what happened to them. In my eyes, Naruto is slightly confused as to which side to take, so we will not take further action until our current mission is over. We are currently on our way to the Island Turtle. _

__ Gaara_

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, hesitant. "So… Kazekage-sama is sure that _someone _will attack Konoha?"

"That's how it looks." Tsunade looked at the small toad. "Naruto summoned you, correct?"

"Yeah, and he interrupted my daily—"

"Good. Go back to him and tell Gaara to, after they leave the Falls, bring the women back to Suna."

The toad saluted Tsunade and hopped out of the window. Tsunade sighed after it. "And we just ended a war, at that."

* * *

"How much longer do we have?" Hinata asked Naruto as they stood together on the deck. Everyone was in various positions of exhaustion, the most common being spread out on the floor.

Naruto was leaning against the railings, struggling to stay standing, but somehow, Hinata seems like the sudden heat wasn't affecting her. Suddenly, there was a poof and the same toad that Naruto sent to Tsunade arrived.

"Naruto-sama! Hokage-sama sent a message for Kazekage-sama."

Naruto sleepily gestured to Gaara, who had created an umbrella of sand for everyone to sit under. This did little, though, because of the intense humidity that seemed to be common in this stretch of water.

Gaara lazily turned his head to the toad as it hopped up. "Huh?"

"Very professional, Kazekage-sama." It croaked, seeming at home in the hot and sticky environment. "Hokage-sama would like it if you followed through with your original plan of taking them back to Suna."

"Huh? Oh, okay. You're dismissed." He nodded at the toad and watched as a puff of smoke replaced it.

Hinata sighed and laughed gently as Naruto gave up and sunk to the floor. Gaara thoughtfully moved some sand over Naruto's head, and Naruto took a deep breath. Hinata moved to sit with him, thankful for the shade, even if it did little to staunch the heat.

Suddenly, the boat jerked violently, sending everyone rolling across the deck. The captain of the ship came running out suddenly, waving his hands, but he wasn't heard above the roaring winds that suddenly plagued the ship. Everything suddenly stopped, giving the young Shinobi a chance to look up. Naruto grabbed on to Hinata for dear life, fully aware of what was happening. Then, there was a crack of thunder that seemed to rock the whole boat. The sky darkened suddenly and the humidity vanished.

They were suddenly in the midst of a storm and the boat had crashed. Visibility was zero, and jumping of the boat meant taking the risk of getting severely injured by debris.

Sakura scrambled to stand up when Sasuke pulled her back down. "Hold on with chakra." He instructed.

Gaara couldn't use his sand to protect Shikamaru or Bee, because if the sand got wet, it could possibly suffocate them. The boat gave one last lurch, and then in the deathly silence, there was a loud moan as the boat began to tip, spilling it's passengers into the ocean.

Everyone tried to hold on with chakra, but the environment was suddenly too harsh to handle. With the only light being the sudden flashes of light and the only sounds being the sigh of the ship and the harsh cracks of thunder, Naruto's senses were being assaulted as he tried to protect Hinata from the rain and the ocean spray that brought sharp pieces of the ship with it.

There was another flash of light, and he could see the sharp outline of the Island Turtle, directly in front of them. How had they missed it? And how had they missed the storm that they sailed directly into?

There was another lurch. Naruto realized that this wasn't a normal capsizing. Something was moving the boat from below, forcing it to sink.

Suddenly, Hinata began to squirm in his arms. He released his grip slightly to give her breathing room but she was trying to show him something. He could see her lips moving, and although she was not even a foot from him, he could not make out a sound in her voice.

"-san! Get Bee-san!" She was screaming, trying to bring her quiet voice to a volume that could be heard.

There was another flash of light, and below them, Naruto could see the faint outline of a beach. They were at the shoreline of Island Turtle… and there was also a wave.

Suddenly, the boat was encompassed in warm, violent water. Naruto gripped Hinata tighter, not allowing her to be torn from his grasp. When the swirling stopped, the pair could see the sinking ship in the distance. But they had no time to stare, for they were near drowning. They pulled themselves up on the beach, watching as Bee transformed into his Bijuu mode and began lifting ant-sized people from the wreckage.

Sasuke was carrying Sakura, who was unconscious. Gaara was unhappily trying to squeeze the salty water from his clothes, and Shikamaru was lying on the sand, looking completely waterlogged.

When they finally arrived – and after everyone recovered from the accident – Naruto explained what they were going to do.

"How will we get back?"

"You won't." A girl's voice drifted from a tree, and everyone flew into battle position, preparing to attack. She hopped down from the tree and landed with a small thud. "Hey now! I never said anything about attacking!" The girl had the same dark skin as C and K, and, like C, she wore her hair in dark braids. She wore glasses and… little clothing. She, like Sasuke, had a grass cutter sword at her hip.

"State your business here." Gaara growled, summoning the sand that had managed to stay dry.

"I could ask the same of you." She let out a sharp whistle and a giant raven flew out of the forest to land gently beside her. "So, you didn't see anything?" She asked it gently. It shook its head. "Well then…" She reached down and unsheathed the sword, plunging it into the bird's dark feathers. It shrank to the size of a regular bird and she grabbed it and swallowed it whole.

"I never thought I would meet someone who _enjoys _that…" Naruto muttered, remembering the time Itachi forced a crow down his throat. And then Naruto remembered _later _when the crow had to come back out…. He was feeling sick.

Suddenly, a senbon shot out of her mouth, sticking with a sickening squish as it hit something behind Naruto. She had killed a snake. "Keep your guard up, Blondie. This forest is dangerous."

"I don't like you invadin' my home, so get ready for me to free your soul!" Bee said, a hint of seriousness in his voice. He grabbed two of his swords from Samehada. "Wheee!" He yelled, preparing to rush her.

"No, no! I don't want to fight you!" She suddenly jumped sideways, avoiding Sasuke's sudden Chidori. "I said I didn't want to fight!" She whined, holding her hands up. As Sasuke jumped back, her tongue shot out and caught him in an embrace. She swiftly threw him back to his original position. Everyone watched in horror as her tongue slithered back into her mouth.

"Orochimaru…!" Everyone yelled, rushing her. Her eyes narrowed, reviewing her enemies as they were in the air. She was up against three of the most powerful ninja alive at the moment, as well as the Jinchuuriki of the Eight Tails. Then, there was the medic girl and the genius….

Two Jinchuuriki, a former Jinchuuriki and Kage, the medic whose punches break the earth but is otherwise useless, and a genius… that's what C told her.

"You guys are so _slow!" _She taunted, jumping up at the group. She grabbed Hinata and darted out of the fray. "You weren't in the description, so I guessed you're weak." She put a one arm around Hinata's waist and the other around her looked up to face everyone else. "What's wrong? I said I didn't want to fight. That wasn't very wise… even if the genius did come up with the plan. You're all too slow, can't match my spee—"

Suddenly, Sasuke was behind her, ready to stab her. "You talk too much."

"Whoops!" She shouted, laughing. With Hinata, she hopped up and out of the way. "That's dangerous! It ain't good to play with swords!"

But she wasn't able to doge a foot coming at her face. As soon as Naruto hit the ground, he grabbed Hinata and placed her down in a safe space. "Wait!" Hinata told him, a hint of smugness in her voice. Naruto looked over to the girl who was now staggering.

"Crap… ugh, why didn't I realize you were a Huyga?" Her hands were suddenly coated in chakra as she began healing her knees. "Stupid chakra points…"

Naruto took this moment to attack, but she sprang back into action, matching him blow for blow. She pulled out her sword, pointing it at Naruto, a serious look coming over her face. "You didn't let me finish."

Before Naruto could track, she was behind him, driving the sword at his back. He spun around and grabbed the sword between his hands, effectively stopping her.

"That's dangerous! You shouldn't play with swords." He smiled and then flipped her over. But before he let go of the sword, she coated it with lightning, singing his hands.

"Haha! You guys are good! I'm Kai, by the way!"

"K-Kai?" Hinata asked, hesitant. "A-Are you f-from the Isle of S-Silver?"

"Yea – what's it to you?! Huh?!" She asked, suddenly preparing to lunge at Hinata.

"N-no! We-we just ran into C and K a-a-a while back!"

"You coulda said that, Scardey McStutter." Kai mumbled, looking down. "I heard about yall, too, but you didn't give me a chance to speak! Pft."

"Well it's not our fault a crazy person suddenly showed up!" Naruto yelled, somehow standing in front of Hinata again.

"Oh, you're one to speak, Blondie! Look at you and your ugly orange sweats!"

"Like I'm not one of the strongest ninja out there! Teme…"

"You wanna fight?! For real this time?!" She taunted, a sick smile spreading across her face. "Oh, and by the way, I'm not Orochimaru… although I did learn all of this stuff from him – indirectly, of course. He was my master's master. He burst into the village; acting like he was a god… he made me sick… although I was just a little kid at the time." Suddenly, she was next to Sasuke.

Her tongue shot out of her mouth and licked her lips. "Hi there – I heard you used to be one of his cronies." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, remaining stoic. She suddenly licked his cheek slowly, causing his eyes to widen in pure horror.

He jumped backwards, disgust written plainly on his face. He shot a long distance chidori at her, but she neatly dodged, looking at his Mangekyou Sharingan in interest.

"You're Uchiha Sasuke… nice to meetchya!" She gave a quick bow to everyone and a slow, dangerous smile spread over her face. "It was a pleasure meeting you all… I hope to see you again. Just whistle when you wanna leave!" She snapped before disappearing in a flurry of black feathers.

"She's sick." Naruto muttered, turning to look back at everyone.

"Yeah…"Shikamaru agreed with his look of utter repulsion clear on his face. "But, she's from the Isle of Silver… so… we have no choice but to follow her."

Everyone nodded in agreement, not sure how to react to Kai… but, if she was as powerful as C said…

Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Okay, let's get this Truth Falls visit over with. I'll feel better when I'm back at full strength." Everyone nodded warily, still not fully recovered from the recent boat crash and the encounter with Kai.

When they arrived at the Falls, Naruto sat down on the little grass covered rock that faced the pristine waterfall. The water was perfectly clear, as one could plainly see the small fish swimming around.

Everyone made themselves comfortable as they watched Naruto meditate in front of the waterfall. Sasuke walked up to join him, sitting on top of the water instead Gaara did the same, except he stayed away from the water by hovering on his sand.

Naruto opened his eyes expectantly as Yami Naruto walked out from under the waterfall.  
**"Heh… you didn't listen, huh? You think you can just kill me?" **He laughed. Naruto got into fighting stance but Dark stood there, smiling lazily at him. **"You don't know what you just did… baka…" **And then Dark was gone, walking back under the waterfall.

Naruto reached out to grab him. "Hey! Teme, get back here!" But instead, he ended up falling off of the rock and into the water, causing Sasuke to sway from next to him. Sasuke's eyes slowly blinked open and he smiled – a real, genuine smile.

Gaara looked up slowly, looking around himself as if he were seeing the world for the first time. "That was… different." He gave a small laugh. Sasuke also laughed a little, staring at the waterfall.

"Yeah… different."

Naruto was glaring at the falls, however, and he found himself wishing that Dark had elaborated what he meant. _"You don't know what you just did… baka…" _a riddle? Maybe Naruto accidently killed a part of himself – no, that wasn't it. Just that… Dark was gone. Naruto could no longer feel his presence.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled, running up and stopping between Naruto and Sasuke. She leaned over to look at Gaara. "How'd it go?"

"It was strange – I didn't really have to fight anyone. All I really did was talk to him."

"Same here… he just… disappeared."

Naruto was still gritting his teeth, glaring at the water rushing over the still and shiny rocks. "Same here… but he didn't disappear. He walked back through the falls."

"That wasn't supposed to happen?" Sasuke asked, looking over at Naruto.

"It happened to you, too?! He was supposed to disappear, not re-enter the waterfall!"

Everyone was silent until Hinata spoke up. "Well, it'll do no good to dwell on it. D-Do you s-still feel his presence, N-Naruto-kun?" She asked, focusing her pale lavender eyes on his ocean-like blue ones.

"No... You're right. If I don't feel his presence, he's gone. Thanks, Hinata-chan!" He flashed her one of his signature grins and she managed a small wobbly smile back. She was going to have to get this under control. Naruto suddenly looked towards the woods, a confused look on his face. "There's something in there."

"What is it?" Sakura asked, looking around. Everyone else knew exactly what was going on.

"I dunno. Hinata-chan and I will go check." He said, starting towards the woods.

"Eh?!" Hinata protested loudly, not quite sure what was going on. Sasuke had a small smirk forming on his face and Gaara and Shikamaru were looking the other way, trying to hide smiles. It slowly dawned on Sakura and Killer Bee, and Bee shouted, "Go for yours!"

With a confused look, Hinata followed Naruto into the woods.

As soon as they made it far enough into the woods, Naruto stopped suddenly. "I-I don't see anyone, Naruto-kun." Hinata said quietly. Naruto turned his smoldering blue eyes on her as she said, "Let's head bac...k…."

In one swift motion, he placed a hand on her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. Hinata let out a small _meep _of surprise, but it slowly dissipated as she melted into him.

She reached up to grip the back of hair, but he pulled away. "I thought I was... what Sasuke said, 'beating around the damn bush'…." He kept his hand on her cheek and caught her eyes in his infinite sapphire gaze. "I didn't want to hold it off any longer, you know?" He let out a small laugh and looked at the ground near Hinata's feet.

"H-Hinata… I-I love you." Hinata squeaked in surprise, her face turning bright red.

He bent down and pulled her into a deeper kiss, not waiting for her to reply. He was vaguely aware of some presences around him, but he didn't bother pay them any mind. He gathered her closer and felt faint amusement as she _meeped_ again.

"When?" She asked, suddenly confused.

"Back in Konoha… when we saw that sunset…"

"Oh." Hinata replied lamely, unsure of what to say without embarrassing herself. _Well, I've loved you ever since I laid eyes on you, _would just sound creepy. "I love you too?"

"Is that a question?" Naruto asked, amusement in his voice. Hinata squeaked again, afraid she had said the wrong thing. Naruto looked at her alarmed expression and panicked. "H-Hinata?!" He gripped her shoulders and held her away from himself, confused.

"I-I'm fine…" Hinata looked back into Naruto's sapphire eyes. "But… I wanted to tell you something." Naruto looked at her and cocked his head, telling her that he was listening.

"Well… I've been in love with you since before Pain attacked the village…"

"Uh, okay? I know that… 'cause you told me." Naruto thought back to when Pain attacked Konoha and winced. If he wouldn't have convinced Nagato that he would rid the world of hatred, Nagato would have left everyone – including Hinata – dead. "I just… I don't want anything to happen to you… I love you."

And he bent down for another kiss.

Once again, he heard the rustling in the bushes, but he wasn't going to let it bother him. His other hand caressed Hinata's cheek, but in and sudden burst of instinct, he reached down and gripped her waist, hopping up and launching them both in the air to land on a tree branch.

A Rasenshuriken flew past them, causing the trees in its path to fly and slam into other trees with unbelievable force. Hinata screamed as Naruto used his body to shield her from the flying debris. He also knew what would happen next – the Rasenshuriken would expand, causing everything within that radius to be torn apart and killed.

He felt a tree branch slam into his back but

Gritting his teeth, he opened up the Kyuubi's chakra reserve, only to be hit with more searing pain. "Gah!" He fell back to the ground, unable to even pull himself off of the ground.

**"Foolish child! I am already greatly weakened, but look at yourself! Had you bypassed the fact that more than half of your chakra has been drained by that… shadow?! High level techniques won't do ****_you _****any good. Senjutsu is out of your league right now. Take the human female and run." **Kurama was speaking urgently, urging Naruto's pain filled body to move. But he soon found that Naruto's strength was more than halved… a simple Kage Bushin would kill him.

Hinata dropped to the ground from the tree, landing gracefully on her feet. She immediately flew into her Gentle Fist stance, prepared to defend from oncoming attacks. But that previous attack had seemed powerful… was this the first time she'd seen it? No… Naruto used it before….

Naruto forced himself to his feet by sheer will-power. If he used any jutsu or chakra in general, his reserves would be depleted and he would drop dead.

"Naruto-kun, can you fight?" Hinata asked him, her Byukagan pulsing clearly in her eyes. Through the trees, she could see their comrades advancing.

Although his pride was taking a major hit, it would do no good to lie to Hinata – this was a life or death or situation.

"No… I don't have any chakra left. I can't even make a clone…"

Suddenly, there was a figure in Hinata's vision. It was approaching steadily from the direction the Rasenshuriken came… except – Hinata should have seen him approaching! He had just popped up from… nowhere!

"From behind!" Hinata grabbed Naruto's arm and heaved him out of the way. He was stumbling drunkenly, confused from struggling to remain conscious. He thudded against a tree, breathing heavily. There was sweat pouring from his forehead, creating little rivulets that rolled off of his eyebrows and dripped from his nose. His right hand began to twist spasmodically and he looked down in shock.

Dark Naruto strolled into the clearing, his right arm also twisting wildly.

"Heh… told ya!" He laughed violently, laughing harder at Hinata's disgusted face. "Yeah girly! Be disgusted! This is who the love of your useless little life _really _is."

But to Dark's surprise, Hinata didn't send an incredulous glance towards Naruto – instead, she bended forward, spreading her feet out and going back into her stance. A small smile played on her lips – time to show him her new move.

She took a step towards Dark but disappeared, only to reappear behind him… except she had never disappeared. Her speed was rivaling Naruto's normal speed now. She slammed her hand down at the base of his neck, only to stop mere centimeters away to sear the chakra point directly below her middle finger.

But instead of seeing Dark drop to the ground, the real Naruto howled in pain, his left hand flying up to hold his neck as he hit the ground, twitching.

Now Hinata was panicking. Was Dark somehow making Naruto absorb all of the hits he received? But, Dark's right arm was bleeding while Naruto's was not… and yet, Naruto was drained of chakra while Dark was unperturbed.

She scanned the area carefully while dodging Dark Naruto's punch. While he attacked her, he was talking the whole time. "Heh, now that I'm out of his useless body, I can do whatever I want!" He slammed a Rasengan into empty space as Hinata narrowly avoided being slammed into the ground by the blue ball of chakra. Hinata sensed that something was holding him back, however. He was going easy on her… but he seemed to be fighting hard.

"Naruto! This isn't like you!" She shouted, her eyes still scanning the field. She needed to stall. Something was holding up their comrades.

"Ha! I'm not Naruto, wench! _Naruto _is over there, passed out like the wuss he is. You can call me Dark… I guess…." Dark delivered a straight punch to Hinata's shoulder, and as his fist connected, she could feel the bones in her upper arm shatter. The momentum sent her into a nearby tree and she slid down, biting back tears. She tenderly touched her arm but instantly regretted it as pain shot through it. She kicked her feet frantically as Dark walked up.

"I hate you. I hate you and every human alive. Including him." Dark jerked his head to Naruto's still form. "The pain… the suffering… I'll make you and everyone else alive feel it!"

"What happened to your Ninja Way?! You were going to erase the world of hatred! What happened?!" Something inside of Hinata snapped and she momentarily forgot about looking for an answer.

Something in her words – maybe it was the words or the desperation in her voice, or both – sent a pang through his heart. He stopped suddenly, staring at her in disbelief. He felt that desperate desire to let his hatred go… and he tamped it down like he had done so many time before.

That pause was all that was needed. Before Hinata could move, however, some unknown force sent Dark Naruto off balance.

Naruto was gripping a kunai in his left hand, trembling as Dark fell to his knees. Naruto grunted as the pain rebounded to him, but he kept the kunai embedded in Dark's shoulder. "Now, Hinata!"

Hinata thrust herself forward, her hand glowing in chakra. She seemed to cut air, but Naruto let go of the kunai in relief as Dark dropped to the ground.

Dark glared at Hinata, his black and red eyes looked into Hinata's light lavender ones. "I-I won't die! I'll get you! I'll—" He was cut off as Naruto drove his boot into Dark's face, rage clear on the shinobi's face.

Naruto could feel his knees go weak and was glad Hinata was there to help him. But Naruto was ready to use up the last of his chakra if Dark was going to get back up. Instead, sand began to lift Naruto's dark opposite safely from the ground. "What the hell, Gaara?!" Naruto shouted in outrage, wincing as his injuries were jostled.

"Like this guy here said that he wasn't you, I'm not Gaara." The red haired man spoke in a level, calm voice. Like Dark Naruto's, his eyes were black with red in the center. There was a Sasuke standing next to him passively. This Sasuke, however, had straight obsidian eyes like his original.

"You all made quite the mistake here, Naruto." And the three were gone in a cloud of sand as the real Gaara and Sasuke ran up, everyone else in tow.

Naruto and Hinata relaxed, falling back against the tree. Hinata whimpered as her fractured arm was jostled as she leant against Naruto, but Naruto was already unconscious. Sakura ran up, not sure who to treat first.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata bit out, her eyes narrowed in pain. "His chakra's depleted."

"I thought I'd never see the day when Naruto ran out of chakra." Sakura began working on Naruto until her eyes settled on the familiar wound on his right hand. "Did he use that technique?" Sakura knew that if Naruto used Rasenshuriken while he wasn't in a special mode, then it was a Forbidden Technique.

"No… but he was still injured… someone who looked like him used it…." Hinata said, still biting back tears from the pain in her arm.

"Who looked like him?!" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "It's connected – the falls."

"Indeed. Is there a chance that the dark sides of us have escaped?" Gaara pondered, looking into the distance.

Hinata noticed that Gaara was holding his arm gingerly and Sasuke was limping. Both looked worn to the bone. Sasuke picked up on Hinata's eyes. "You must have known, too. You were here. The dark parts used techniques and placed the rebounds on us… luckily, our dark sides don't have tempers…." Sasuke trailed off, looking at Naruto's emaciated form.

"I-I think Dark was draining Naruto of chakra since the war ended…."

"Dark?" Sasuke asked, his facial expression not changing.

"That's what he called himself… but…"

Everyone stood around awkwardly, waiting for Shikamaru to instruct on the next move.

"Well, that girl back there told us to whistle, and Tsunade is giving us instructions on bringing them back to Konoha…" Shikamaru put two of his fingers in his mouth and let out a long whistle.

A giant black bird flew over the tree tops, the trees bending with each flap of its wings. The sound was like the whooshing of giant fans. Its bottom feathers and the tip of the tail feathers were midnight blue, giving the illusion that it was enveloped in blue fire.

Beneath it was a small house-like structure with a giant perch on top. The bird landed on the perch and waited as Kai climbed out of the building.

"HA! You were going to do it! You should thank me – I saved you the embarrassment." She looked down at Naruto and Hinata, who Sakura was healing. She heard Sakura murmur to Hinata, "Your injuries won't heal, for some reason. It's possible that you were hit with the Kyuubi's chakra."

"Let's hurry up and get outta here – I don't like this presence I'm getting." Kai sighed, opening the door. "There's a room to the right. You can put Uzumaki in there. Everyone else, once you enter, if you go to the left, there's a sitting area." Kai allowed them all in and closed the door behind them. She whistled lightly and felt the sudden rocking feeling as the bird took off.

"What are Uzumaki and Huyga's injuries?" Kai asked Sakura, concerned.

"I don't know. Medical jutsu won't heal them, though. Those are chakra wounds." Kai tried again, but, like Sakura said, nothing happened.

"Well, we can let them rest." Kai nodded towards Hinata who was dozing next to Naruto. Hinata's arm was already set – as much as possible – and put in a splint.

Sakura and Kai went to stand in the main room to look out of the windows. "We'll be there in about three days. I mean, my bird can't fly fast against the winds… I guess we'll stop soon."

Sakura sighed, looking out the window. "I just feel so helpless right now…."

Kai laughed lightly. "Helpless? You don't know the meaning of the word." Kai sighed, turning to look out of the far window.

"When my clan was killed, I saw C and K trying to fight their way out of the meeting hall… the man – I don't know his name – summoned a rhino and tried to flatten them. They had five children with them…. I ran to stop it, but the horn got me through the stomach… and the children got killed." Kai looked up at the ceiling, sighing again. "Before I could use my rebirth technique, one of the attacking Ninja tried to attack some elderly people who were stuck in the fire…. When I attacked the ninja, I found that he had already poisoned them…." Kai looked at Sakura, her dark eyes boring into Sakura's green ones. "You don't know what helpless is."

"But… K and C were so surprised to see me alive! It was priceless!" Kai started to laugh, but stopped abruptly, looking back at Sakura. "What's up?"

"I-I was just thinking…" Sakura spluttered, being caught red handed.

"'Bout what?"

"Well… Sasuke… he…"

"Oh, you're in love with Uchiha?" Kai looked up. "That makes sense! Ah, and McStutter and Blondie are a couple, right?"

Sakura just stared at Kai. But then Sakura sighed and began telling Kai about Sasuke, low enough so that her voice wouldn't carry into the next room.

After she finished explaining, Kai sighed. "Well, I think you shouldn't be so open about it. Like, stop trying too hard to get Sasuke. He already knows that you're in love with him… so just… let things happen."

"O-okay… how do you know this?" Sakura asked, turning her wide green eyes back to Kai.

"I just do." And with that, Kai walked into her room, slamming the door.

Hinata could hear the whole conversation from where she was beside Naruto… and that day just kept playing in her mind.

* * *

**Okay… chapter over. I told ya it was almost as long as chapter one. Sorry if it moves too fast – I tried to squeeze the falls events into this one. **

**Also, I really, really need these OC's. They're not going take over, and I think they only show up about three more times, but they are soooo necessary to the plot, it's not even funny. Their personalities are also extremely needed. If you find Kai irritating, you should. I find her kind of irritating, also, but I have a plan for Kai, C, and K. **


	8. Chapter 8: Dilemma

**Finally, chapter 8! **

**I know I said I would update on set days, but I just can't keep that up. I've been writing two chapters ahead in detail so I would have something to fall back on. And frankly, I have to be in a writing mood.**

**So, things are going to start picking up. I finally decided on a definite plot so expect some action from here on out. There are a whole bunch of time-skips in this chapter, though, because I have to get where I'm going before chapter twelve. **

**Chapter length: Medium. Think of this chapter as those anime episodes that aren't filler, but they're after something major and before something else major. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

**Chapter 8: Dilemma**

"_What?_" Tsunade hissed, looking up roughly from her paperwork.

"T-t-they're back, Tsunade-sama. Naruto-kun and Hinata are in the hospital… Kazekage-sama has a report…" Shizune repeated, slowly moving back in fear. Tsunade's face was turning a shocking new shade of red.

"Well, let him in!" She shouted, standing up and slamming her hands down on her desk. The Hokage tower had long since been completed, so Tsunade was in her element, sitting in her office now.

Gaara, Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all walked in, stoic looks on their faces. They began explaining the details of their trip to Tsunade, not wanting to leave anything out. Although Kai had helped them get home, she was in custody and being interrogated.

"So, you believe the girls mean no harm, Gaara? Well take a look around! It's possible we could be attacked because of them."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, his tattoo seeming to move down on his forehead. "Well, _Tsunade, _what if they aren't the threat? As much as I care for this village, I have to put my own first! The enemies could as very well come after me! The bloodline limit that runs in my family – the ability to control particles of different materials is strong. Sand, gold dust, metallic dust – they're all, or were, found in Suna!"

"How dare you address me as—"

"How dare you address me as simply Gaara when you are speaking to the Kazekage? This matter could very well cause another World War!"

"And that is why we need to keep those girls under lock-down! If they are the threat, then—"

"Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru spoke up quietly. "Had those girls possessed evil intention, they could have taken the chance to kill all of us, multiple times. I doubt any of them want to cause harm."

"I believe our main focus is the organization that wiped out the Isle of Silver. Tsunade-sama, you can confirm that everyone on that island has been killed, correct?" Sakura asked in a quiet, calculating voice. Of the Konoha eleven, the smartest after Shikamaru was Sakura. When it came to pure knowledge, she had it all. Although Naruto wasn't considered smart, he was a genius when it came to spontaneous battle planning, causing him to win most of his fights with raw will-power and brains.

Sakura looked into her Master's hazel eyes, boring into them without fear.

"You all are correct. The Isle of Silver was wiped out about a month and a half ago by some unknown force. We were going to send shinobi, but the place was already decimated." Tsunade sat down, laughing. "Look at me, getting told by a bunch of teenagers. I should just give up my position already." She looked over at Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. "You three! Do what you see necessary. Kazekage-dono, arigato. Will you be departing to Suna?"

Gaara's expression lightened. "Ah, I believe I'll stay here for a while longer. Should I return to the former room that was given to me?"

"Yep!" Tsunade mumbled unprofessionally, returning to whatever she was previously doing and eyeing a drawer. She looked sharply away and reached into another drawer, pulling out two flak jackets. "Uchiha, heads up!" She tossed one to Sasuke and watched in amusement as he caught in surprise. She then tossed one to Sakura. "You know who that goes to." Sakura flashed Tsunade a grin and ran out of the room.

* * *

**"Foolish child! How were you oblivious to this?!" **Kurama growled at Naruto, his eyes narrowing tiredly.

Naruto wasn't in much better shape. "Are you trying to tell me that Dark was in here sapping my power this whole time?"

**"Yes, Naruto. But it wasn't until he used chakra that you were drained. I believe he took enough to last him for a long while, however." **

Naruto nodded at Kurama. "So, he was draining our power up until we went to the Falls? He's smart, I gotta give him that."

The two sat in silence for a while until Kurama growled. **"Humans are so fickle."**

"What? How?"

**"Did you realize why all of this I happening? The way the simple village humans treated you bred darkness in your heart. And then you forgave them. Now, the Dark part of yourself is trying to get your unwanted revenge – he's doing it for you." **Kurama laughed slightly, looking down at Naruto with his red eyes. **"And when that human female – the one with the white eyes – came along, he was furious. Now, he's getting revenge not for you, but on you. He feels that he was helping you, and by falling in love with that female, you have betrayed him."**

"Um… could you tell him that I'm straight?" Naruto asked with discomfort. The way Kurama was wording it….

**"Not that way, fool! By trusting humans, you have communicated to him that you do not want revenge – which is what he lives for. That's how he separated from your body."**

Naruto thought for a second, letting Kurama's words sink in.

**"He's not at your full power yet, however. He only managed to steal pieces of your chakra without absorbing your will along with it – like how you fought me to take my chakra. While you were depleted, you weren't completely drained." **

Naruto narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about what Kurama was saying. "So, you've been suppressing him this whole time?" Naruto asked, still confused.

**"Yes, Naruto. But he managed to steal a great amount of chakra from me, too. While he is not at your level, he is still a dangerous enemy. Anyone close to your level is dangerous."**

Naruto smiled at the compliment. "I'm the best ninja alive! Of course I'm dangerous!"

**"Yes yes." **Kurama kept talking, a sly smile forming on his fox face. **" Just make sure I'm there when you kill him."**

And then Naruto was jerked out of the mindscape, Kurama's words sinking in. Would Kurama and Naruto really have to undergo bijuu transformation in order to defeat Dark? Was he really that powerful?!

Or was Kurama implying that somehow, he would be separated from Naruto…?

When Sakura walked into the hospital room, her smile instantly faded. With him hooked up to whirring machines and IVs, she could see the extent of the damage done at the Falls of Truth.

One of Naruto's eyes popped open when Sakura walked in. She was holding the jacket behind her back and kept it hidden as she came to sit next to him.

"I found out what happened." Naruto said, uncharacteristically quiet. "Dark was sapping my chakra up until I released him at the Falls…."

"Is that why Hinata couldn't kill him?"

"Yeah… I bet if he dies, I die." Naruto looked towards the window in his room.

"Well then, we can't let that happen, now can we?" Sakura pulled out Naruto's flak jacket and held it up proudly.

"What? Finally! I was wondering how long they were going to keep me a genin!" Naruto grinned happily. "Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, they're resting up. Trust me, since Hinata being discharged tonight, this room is going to wish it was never built. But of course you got promoted! You skipped chunin, too. I mean, you smashed the whole system, anyway." Sakura laughed and Naruto joined in.

Sakura stopped laughing for a little, however, continuing in a serious tone. "But Tsunade-sama is thinking about retiring soon… she gave the task of foreign affairs to me…"

"What?! I'm supposed to be Hokage! That old hag!"

"Naruto! Calm down! She hasn't announced who's going to get the position. The council has already talked it over, though."

"Ah…." Naruto sighed, relaxing. "What are you going to do, then?"

Sakura looked up. "Ah, well, I talked to Kai on our way here. She seems willing enough to help us – and she's pretty nice, too. C and K seemed ready to help out, also. So, I guess we'll get Kai to summon her bird, find C and K, and have a meeting on how to act next."

"Yeah… the Hyuga clan is still at risk, isn't it?" Naruto asked, looking at Sakura in concern.

"Yeah, and so is Suna… I think we should retrieve the shinobi we have positioned there." Sakura thought about how Kiba and Akamaru, Ino, and Ibiki who were all in Suna.

* * *

"Exactly _what_ are you doing?" Kankuro asked Ino, staring at her.

"I'm _trying _to use this telephone device! I want to call Sakura!"

Kankuro face palmed, his purple make-up smudging off onto his hands. "You can't exactly do that. She would have to have one too." He rubbed his hands off on his black pants and ran a hand through his free hair. "Plus, that one's not even completed. It's just so Gaara can call the council when he needs to."

"Well, I want one." She glared at Kankuro and he glared back, trying to figure out where Gaara left off on the paperwork. Akamaru yawned from near Ino's feet. "I'm sorry Akamaru. I don't know where your butt of an owner went. You're supposed to stay here with me."

Akamaru whined but put his head on his paws dejectedly. He suddenly hopped up. He stood to his full height, which was past Ino's waist, and began to pull on her pants' leg. "What?" He shook his fur out and sniffed the air, whining and growling at the same time.

He looked over at Kankuro and barked twice, looking at the window. Kankuro looked at him incredulously but opened the window. Akamaru turned back and ran straight at Ino, knocking her over his large body and hopping out of the window. Kankuro followed, genuinely worried as to what the white dog was going to do.

Ino righted herself and allowed Akamaru to carry her out and into the desert. A few miles later, they found signs of a scuffle. Akamaru stopped and sniffed the ground worriedly. He whined and looked up at Kankuro and Ino. Then, he circled the spot and sat down.

He began to get irritated at their confused looks and growled at them.

"Something happened to Kiba?!" Ino came to the realization of what Akamaru was saying. The large dog barked in approval. Suddenly, a hand popped out of the sand, dragging the three under with whoever the owner was.

Ino gasped as she felt something stick her in the foot and began to feel the darkness envelope her.

* * *

That night, Naruto had a dream. It reminded him of the day he sat and watched the sunset with Hinata, or rather; the sunset had reminded him of the dream.

The images were too much – Hinata's pale face, drained of blood was the most horrifying. In front of him, he could see a sunset, much like the ones commonly seen in Konoha. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sasuke's spiky black hair and Sakura's ruffled pink hair. Sakura's pink hair disappeared from sight momentarily, but Sasuke's hair moved to cover the area.

"He's attacking from the left! Dodge!" They would both disappear from sight, fending off enemies and temporarily leaving Naruto and Hinata exposed. But they would land back again, weapons and fists at the ready.

Their enemy was Kakashi, brought back by a Rebirth technique. He brandished Zabuza's Decapitating Blade with utter skill, his Sharingan eye flashing into Mangekyou occasionally, as I he couldn't control the chakra flowing to his eye... or he didn't know how. And he would look down to Hinata, apology in his usually dull eyes… and Naruto would make the connection.

Then, Sasuke's pale face would always turn to look directly at Naruto. "That's why you're worth killing." He would growl, readying his sword and pointing it at the blonde's forehead.

That's always when Naruto woke up, drenched in sweat. The knowledge of the dream always held at arm length from Naruto, jerked away as he reached to grab it.

Foreshadowing?

But Naruto didn't have time to think when Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Shino, Hinata, and Sai all walked in, each talking to someone else.

"Told ya so!" Sakura stage whispered to Naruto, causing him to grimace. This was not the time for visitors.  
After the miniature party, Tsunade came in and began to do Naruto's discharge paperwork.

"Well Naruto, you can be discharged today. Take it easy for a while – you have a mission next week." Tsunade said while checking his vitals.

"Got it!" However, it wasn't until one in the morning that Naruto was released from the hospital.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune came rushing into Tsunade's office. "Tsunade-sama!"

"What?!" Tsunade looked up from her desk, realizing that she had fallen asleep.

"Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Kankuro have gone missing from Suna!"

"What?!" Tsunade shook the sleep away and threw her palms onto the desk, causing Shizune to jump.

"The bandits… were last seen…" Shizune struggled to catch her breath, coughing and spluttering. "Heading… here."

Tsunade stood up abruptly. "Has Gaara arrived back in Suna?"

"No ma'am. He's expected to arrive anytime now, though. We'll be contacted when that happens."

Tsunade's eyebrows pulled together. Not only had two of the Konoha Eleven gone missing, but they were taken along with a Suna higher-up – the Kazekage's own brother! "What available jounin do we have at the moment?"

"Um… none, Tsunade-sama. They are all either on guard duty throughout the village or in other villages." Shizune responded slowly, stumbling on one foot when Tonton ran into the room.

"Buhi!" The small pig squeaked. "Buhi! Buhi, buhi!" Behind Shizune and Tonton, there was an ANBU.

"Fox! Has the Kazekage arrived yet?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade. He's already sent out a search team. He wishes to speak with you."

Tsunade glared at the ANBU. "It would take me _three days _to get to Suna, Fox."

"My lady, he doesn't wish to speak in person. The Communication's Center has been working on something important. Follow me."

Shizune reached down and picked up Tonton and began hurrying after Tsunade.

"Why does this stuff happen at two in the morning?! Two in the fu-"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune gasped

"Fudge. There." When they arrived in the small room, it didn't appear to be two in the morning, however.

"Kazekage-sama? Kazekage-sama?" One man was shouting excitedly into a small round orb sitting on a large table. He shushed everyone with a wave of his hand and tried again. "Kazekage-sama? Can you hear me? This is Takashi of Konoha's Communication's Unit."

Gaara's fuzzy voice came through seconds later. "Yes, I can hear you. Is the same in my case?"

Everyone cheered suddenly and some guy yelled in a lady's face, "I told you so!"

Tsunade pushed everyone aside, slamming her palms on either side of the black orb and putting her face right up on it. "Gaara, what jutsu is this?!"

A few seconds later, Gaara's sigh came through the speakers. "This is not the time for this, Hokage-dono. We have an enemy sighted."

"Have they been identified?"

"No. But they were last seen heading for Konoha. That was a couple of hours ago. It was twelve hours ago that Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, and my brother, Kankuro, disappeared. They were last seen rushing into the desert."

Tsunade's right hand curled into a fist and she pounded the spot next to the microphone. "Any chances they are the enemies those from The Isle of Silver mentioned?"

"I am almost certain." Gaara replied, static hiding the small stress in his voice. "On another note, we have come to a verdict for Uchiha Sasuke. He will have no word in this. He is too much of a threat during a time like this."

Tsunade stiffened, listening as Gaara's last words came through the speakers. "What is it?" She asked.

"Based on his crimes committed towards the Shinobi Nations, Uchiha Sasuke will have twenty years in prison."

* * *

That morning, Sakura was entering the Hyuuga compound. She spotted Hinata's beautiful blue-purple hair from across the Main House's courtyard, but she approached slowly.

Hinata finished a Kaiten rotation, blocking several kunai thrown at her by her cousin. She spotted Sakura as she went back to her Gentle Fist stance. She suddenly straightened up and said something to her cousin. They bowed and Hinata made her way towards Sakura.

Sakura was holding a basket full of cinnamon rolls and smiled as Hinata walked closer. "Sakura!" She called in surprise, walking up to her fellow Kunoichi. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd stop by… and… I wanted to talk to you." Sakura sighed and spoke in a serious tone.

"Oh, well, come in!" Hinata walked Sakura through the Main Family's house and Sakura was in awe at the traditional architecture. It was like a house found in ancient Japan, but the sheer size of it… so she didn't notice when Hinata took the basket of cinnamon rolls from Sakura and sat it on a small coffee table.

Hinata began to make tea and Sakura took that as her cue to start talking.

"Well, it's about what we were talking about in Suna… before we were interrupted." Sakura began, staring at the fine grains on the table.

Hinata's hand stopped inches from the teacup in front of her, but she caught herself and kept moving. "Yeah?" she asked, uncharacteristic hardness in her voice.

"Well, I was asking if—"

"I remember. But, I'd like to know why, Sakura." Hinata snapped, her character seeming to completely change.

"But how could you love-"

"How could _you _love that rouge nin that abandoned the village? The one who's caused you _and _Naruto-kun so much pain?!" Hinata spun around and looked into Sakura's green eyes.

"Because... he… I…"

"Because you love him, right? Even if he's completely uninterested, even if he's threatened to blow up the village, even if he's tried to kill you, you still love him, right?" Hinata kept looking into Sakura's eyes, trying to gain a reasonable response out of the Iyrounin. "Or… are you in love with Naruto, like you said you are?"

Sakura's eyes widened. She had never told Hinata about what was said that night in the Land of Iron… so then… who told her? Sakura gulped audibly and opened her mouth to speak. She abruptly closed it and opened it again, as if searching for words to speak.

"I-I…." Sakura couldn't bring herself to look into Hinata's eyes. She had caused Naruto so much pain, and now she had to face someone who truly loved him. "Naruto is my best friend…" she began, moving her shiny green eyes up to look at Hinata's hurt lavender ones. "And… I only want the best for him. He deserves you. You're what he needs. All I've done is rely on him to cover for my uselessness. I used him to find Sasuke, and I was being selfish – _I _just wanted Sasuke back."

Hinata still looked hurt. Sakura had walked into the house with a fake smile and Hinata's favorite food only to ask a heartbreaking question – a question that was heartbreakingly easy to answer.

**Okay. Well, I guess, all of you must hate Sasuke by now. I mean, what with the stuff he says… but you'll really hate him for a while in this story. I'm sorry. I love Sasuke – not as much as I love Naruto – but, like I said earlier, I need his buttiness to keep the plot rolling. **

**And… I have to redeem Sakura, too. She's being a butt, too. **


	9. Chapter 9: False Battle

**Chapter length: Short but action packed. I assure you – there's a major drama bomb at the end of this chapter and is explained at the beginning of the next. **

** Thanks for all of the reviews, everyone! They're really cheering me up and motivating me to write! Arigato! **

** Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the creation of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or the Naruto manga. Nor do I own any of the characters.**

** Chapter 9: Battle**

"Sakura, I am sending you, Hinata, and Shikamaru on the mission in Suna." Tsunade looked at Sakura, Hinata, and Shikamaru with her steely, hazel eyes.

The two Kunoichi had situated themselves so that Shikamaru was standing between them. And it was painfully obvious that Sakura was at fault, but she wasn't going to admit it in front of the Hokage… or Shikamaru, for that matter.

This is what the Ninja Handbook was for! Everyone regarded it as crap given to genin, and, of course, no one bothered to read it except for the overachievers. "Ninja should have no emotions", is what a chapter in the Handbook reads.

Maybe emotions _were _a hindrance to missions, Sakura thought bitterly. Why did she have to hunt Hinata down and continue the conversation? Worse, why did she even start the conversation in the first pla—

"Sakura! I'm asking you to summon that girl!" Tsunade shouted, startling everyone. Sakura nodded and put two fingers to her mouth. She then pushed chakra to her fingers and lips, blowing out one, long, chakra infused note.

Everyone stood in rapture for a few minutes. Tsunade was getting increasingly irritated when the whole tower suddenly began to tremor and shake.

The giant black and blue bird landed next to the tower and Kai hopped out from between its giant feathers.

"Kai Tori, at your service!" Kai's thin hand flew up to her forehead in a salute.

"She's shorter than I expected…" Shizune whispered to Tonton, and the pig "oinked" in response. Kai immediately looked to Shizune and sent a glare her way.

Kai bowed slightly, obviously not wanting to show Tsunade the proper amount of respect. "Hokage-_sama._"

"Well then, _Tori, _you understand why you're here, right?" Tsunade looked at Kai, unimpressed.

"'S Just Kai, ma'am!" Kai then put both of her feet together and puffed her chest out. Her bottom lip pulled up into a determined frown.

Tsunade jumped up and rushed Kai suddenly, slamming her fist at Kai's face. Kai laughed and easily dodged, hopping behind Tsunade and tapping her back.

"Well, like I was saying to your little minions, 'you can't match this speed!'" Kai hopped back nimbly, perching on a window sill. "My last name ain't _Tori _for nuthin!"

"Yes, poultry. It suits you." Tsunade sat back down, eyeing the girl. She looked over at Shizune. "Why do the idiots get all of the power?"

"No! Not pol-te-ry or whatever you callit! Bird! It's Bird!" She put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out.

"C and K are much more… reserved." Sakura piped up, her green eyes wide from the whole encounter.

"Whatever! I could beat those slops anytime I want!" She straightened up suddenly and her dark eyes slid towards the window.

"Oh really?" C asked, perching in the window. "Hokage-sama, I think you'll need more security."

"Yeah, didn't Kazekage-sama tell you all to… you know… beef up the security?" K asked quietly, bowing in respect to the Hokage.

Tsunade sighed and nodded at K reluctantly. "So… you broke into the village?"

"Yeah… luckily we're not evil."

"Or demons."

"Or Orochimaru."

"Or tax collectors." C and K laughed quietly and Kai glared at them.

"We should just hurry up and help this weak little village." Kai grumbled, glaring at C and K. "You stole my spotlight!"

"Maybe you didn't deserve-"

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade shouted, breaking her poor desk in half. "Sakura, Hinata, and Shikamaru, you will all be going to recover Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Kankuro along with some Suna nin. You idiots will come with me to the Torture and Interrogations unit."

Kai sighed. "Yall better have some good means of torture. I don't think anything could be worse than what I've seen."

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the monitor as it beeped frantically. He closed his eyes and tried again, this time smiling as the monitor was silent.

**"So you fried some medical equipment. What good is that going to do you? You're back here because you over trained yourself. Take it easy."**

"You'll see! It's not my fault! I _have _to train!" Naruto replied calmly. "Remember that move? The move with the sage mode and stuff?"

Kurama yawned. **"You're not being very specific."**

"I don't know what it's called! Just… I'm trying out a new technique. I mean, if our chakra combined turns stuff into trees, then can't we use that chakra to take out enemies without moving?"

**"You're saying that there's a way to destroy people without any physical exertion?"**

Naruto laughed. "Or chakra usage, for that matter. I'm trying to find a way to win a battle without losing anything but time."

Kurama refrained from saying, "Impossible!" **"If you think it can be done, do it." **

"Arigato, Kurama!"

Naruto concentrated again, sizzling out another piece of equipment with chakra alone.

**"Well… what about when your Hokage returns?" **Kurama smiled slyly, chuckling as he felt Naruto's growing anxiety.

"Well crap… I didn't think of that. But I don't get why Tsunade-baachan won't let me out of this _cell. _I'm perfectly fine!"

Kurama laughed slightly but otherwise said nothing. **"Have you ever thought… about how you and the rhyming human are the only Jinchuuriki left on this earth?" **

"Yeah… I think about it all the time. If I would have know how things would turn out the moment I finished my trip with Ero-Sennin, then I kind of guess none of this would have happened." Naruto paused slightly, thinking. "But then, everything's not all bad the way it is."

**"You humans are so sentimental. But I guess you do have that friend of yours back – although he's one of the reasons for all of this trouble. And you do have the company of that human female." **

Naruto blushed slightly and went back to focusing his chakra.

**"Are you worried of what those strange females told you? About the attack?"**

"You know what, Kurama? You're being way too talkative, for someone who hated my guts a couple of months ago." But Naruto smiled to show that he wasn't completely serious.

Kurama said nothing.

* * *

"We still have a couple of hours until the mission…" Hinata stated quietly, sighing. She looked up to see K and C advancing towards them. The two ran up but didn't say anything save for a polite greeting.

"You want to train?" Shikamaru suggested, shrugging.

"Eh…"

"Ooh!" Kai said suddenly. "Blondie's back!" She looked over towards Naruto's approaching form. He stopped next to Hinata but before he could say anything, Kai cut him off.

She strolled up casually to Naruto, her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Maybe… we should duel."

C and K looked at Kai in disbelief, but Naruto smiled. "YOSH!"

The two went to opposite sides of the grounds and Kai put her thumb up. "I'll crème you, Blondie."

"Heh! Not a chance!"

Before Kai could blink, Naruto's orange chakra cloak was surrounding him and his foot was on a collision course with her face.

She began the first makings of a dodge when Naruto's foot connected with her nose and sent her through the trees. He landed quickly, his slightly long hair floating down around his face.

Kai flew from the trees and attempted an attack when one of Naruto's chakra hands grabbed her foot and slammed her down.

She spun in its grip and slammed her bloody palm against the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Hinata blinked at Kai. When they had first met C and K, they claimed to be from a small village with only limited Ninjutsu… but Kai was using it abundantly, while C and K had never used Ninjutsu. And Kai was being uncharacteristically serious…

When the smoke from the summoning cleared, Kai was gripping the back of a black bird with one hand and holding her sword in the other as if she were fighting on horseback.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly but otherwise did nothing.

"You can bail out now, Uzumaki!" She called from up above.

"Who do you think I am?!" He shouted in outrage, flailing his arms around. She used this chance to fly in full speed but only ended up slamming into a wall of his pure chakra. The bird's neck snapped easily while she hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Aren't you worried?" Hinata asked C and K upon seeing their bored expressions.

C answered easily, "Clan rule. We aren't supposed to help out a member in a fight. I mean, a group battle, yes. But this? She brought this upon herself."

K spoke up, also. "And plus, we can't really help her without getting ourselves injured in the process. I think Kai's ego is waaaayyy too big. She was taking advantage of you all in your weakened states… she didn't realize how strong you really are."

C smiled at Hinata. "I mean, you could take Kai out easily. Not me, though, because I'd never pick a fight with you in the first place. I value my life." C then grinned and Hinata gave her a shaky smile.

"Ooh, she's going to use that move?" K suddenly asked, looking through the dust to the field.

C looked to where Kai was and then glanced back at Hinata. "Kai has this move where she blasts out chakra from her palms and it eats up the enemy's upon command and then gives it to her… she's really stupid."

Hinata thought for a while. "How did Kai learn this stuff?"

"Mainly, she just took the abilities from other ninja and added her own twist to it. She knows Orochimaru's Jutsu, too. From when he came to our island, I mean. But she wasn't directly his student – her master was."

"That's why they should start copywriting Jutsu, don't you think?" K asked C and Hinata, seriously engrossed in the fight.

Kai pulled herself up and raised her arms in front of herself. "Godly Rejection!" She shouted, blasting chakra out from her hands. The Kyuubi cloak didn't even waver and Kai coughed and dropped to the ground.

"How'd she get so weak?" Sakura was wondering to Sasuke aloud. "I mean, she seemed so strong…"

"Hm," Sasuke grunted, watching with interest. He happened to be walking through the forest when he heard the turmoil. Although he would not admit it, he was purely curious. "The other two are pretty powerful… but nowhere near our level. We haven't figured out why we were all weakened at that time…"

They both looked around suddenly when a cloud of smoke and a rumble reached them.

Naruto was still standing where he was, only a foot or two out of place, while Kai was panting. She wiped some blood off of her dark chin and tried to stand up straight.

"Teme…!" She hissed, taking off full speed at Naruto. The whole fight was moving in two stages – either both of them were moving at the speed of light or both of them were standing completely still.

This time however, Naruto jumped up, kunai in hand, to counter Kai's blow. She was once again thrown back and sent skidding through the dirt.

This was hardly an epic fight.

Kai pulled herself off of the ground again but this time decided not to rush Naruto. Her knees shook slightly and she wavered but otherwise stayed on her feet. She began to mutter angrily to herself.

"I don't care if _he _said I shouldn't! I don't get why I can't!" She laughed slightly. "Oh… okay… heh…"

Kai's body jerked unnaturally, her arms bending in all of the wrong places. She looked at Naruto with her suddenly empty, dark eyes. Her voice, somehow flat with metallic inflictions, rang across the silent field. "Help me..."

C and K's eyes widened in horror and K turned to retch. Sakura ran to Kai's prone body and began to heal it along with C and K's help. _Kai was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. _

* * *

"Since when was life some crap out of a science fiction novel?!" Hanabi jumped up on Hinata's bed

"That's what happened…"

"And… you still haven't figured out what happened at the Falls yet, either? Or what's up with Ino-san, Kiba-san, and Kankuro-sama?"

"And Akamaru." Hinata added quietly, combing through her hair. Her relations with her sister, Hanabi, were just getting better. Before the war, even though she had tried her hardest, Hinata was seen as a failure of the clan. Even though she was meant to be heiress to the Hyuga Clan, she was pegged as too weak for the position and Hanabi took her place.

But for some reason, Hanabi was taking interest in talking with her older sister and keeping up with current events – after all, her sister was one of the Konoha Eleven… or in the bingo books, amongst the first thirteen people.

"But Tsunade-sama did call off the mission to Suna… especially since what happened. Some Suna Jounin are going to take care of it…" Hinata looked up. "Although I really want to go help them…"

"Is it true what happened to that girl… at the training grounds today? And does her name really mean 'Sea Chicken'?" Hanabi's voice dropped as if she were saying a string of bad words.

"Yeah… it's true."

"Hinata, you know what I think?"

Hinata sat her brush down and began tying her long hair up. "What?"

"This situation could be like in those books, where there's always someone _really _powerful controlling everything from the shadows." Hanabi leaned closer to Hinata. "Like, what if the Darks are just a diversion so the real plan can be carried out?"

"That's great, Hanabi, but how could that person have communicated to the Darks?"

"Well… Naruto-san and Kazekage-sama have – or had – access to a Bijuu, right? And Sasuke-san was running around doing Lord knows what for the longest… anything could have happened."

Hinata stopped suddenly and let her hair fall down her back. Everything added up since the beginning of the war.

First, Naruto's chakra was being steadily sapped from some unknown force.

Then, they were ambushed on the small island where they met C and K….

And then the boat crashed… then they met Kai… and they were attacked by the Darks….

Where did the Darks come from?

And then, when they got back to Konoha, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, and Kankuro were taken…

All of this right after C and K told them about the "Secret of the Clans", and all of that directly after a war.

Hanabi looked up at Hinata, an unreadable look in her eye. "If you've suffered darkness and hatred and loneliness, it never goes away, right?" Hanabi was whispering now. "And in most cases… that pain is what makes you a stronger person, right?"

Hinata nodded numbly, understanding where Hanabi was coming from.

"Then, if that pain is strong enough, it can form another being – that's what the Falls of Truth is for. But what if that being began to have feelings besides hatred and darkness? What if it felt jealousy?"

Hinata's pale lavender eyes widened in understanding. "So… that means the Darks are the beings that resided inside of Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Gaara-sama?"

"Yeah. They must have wanted bodies for themselves and took that chance to exit their hosts with a sustainable amount of chakra. That's why Naruto-sama was in the hospital for so long."

Hanabi stopped and stared at the carpet while Hinata stared at the top of her sister's head. "Hanabi… how did you come up with this?"

"I don't know. I've been listening to what you've been telling me, and it all adds up. People who are feeling strong emotions are usually generally easier to manipulate. Those beings – the Darks – could be the diversion, and that Sea Chicken could be the main force."

Hinata listened intently. "Wow…"

Hanabi looked up towards Hinata. "Hey, what were you telling me abou—"

The whole estate began to rumble.

"What?" Hanabi ran over to Hinata's window and yanked the silk curtains open.

Hinata's light purple room lit up with the light from the flames outside of the window. There was chaos; the only thing visible was the long, dark hair of the Hyuga Clan members swishing in the wind.

"We're… under attack?"

Hanabi and Hinata jumped out of the window to land and fight whoever was wreaking havoc on the estate…

And they came face to face with Kai, who had a sick, demented smile on her face.

"It's all _your _fault."

**Okay… I loved writing this chapter. I wrote the whole thing while thinking deeply about how much homework I'm getting loaded down with. Fun.**

** But the reason I liked writing this chapter was because it is plot heavy – and so is the next one one. I checked – there should only be at most twenty five chapters in this story. This _will _be the first story I've ever completed. I can feel it. **

** Kai is that one character… she flew out of control. I meant for her to be ultra irritating, but actually help Konoha in the end… that's not happening. I mean… I HATE her! I know I invented her… but I hate her. Almost more than I hate Naraku from InuYasha… you'll see. Her motives are all jacked up. **

** Let's just say, this whole chapter flew out of control. **


	10. Chapter 10: Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto does.**

**I've gotten pretty lazy… on everything. I mean, I'm seriously falling behind at life. It might be a while between updates, but they'll definitely be there… unless I, like, die. Or go into a coma… I diagnosed with something deadly. Or, my social studies teacher decides to give a long homework assignment… that'll be the end of the world. **

**Chapter length: Medium – only about six pages. Longer than chapter 9, shorter than chapter 7.**

**Chapter 10: Betrayal **

_"Kai, Kai is that you?" C asked, rummaging through the ruins of Shizukesa. _

_ "Yeah… C! Is K okay?!"_

_ "She's fine." C said, limping up to Kai. They briefly embraced and C gestured to where K was sitting._

_ "So… I guess it's just us then, huh?" Kai muttered. She suddenly clenched her fists and bared her sharp teeth. "It's the Hyuga clan… it's their fault."_

_ Before C could say anything, Kai was already ranting. "They… they just couldn't give that little Hyuga child to Kumo, and now look! I was condemned this fate when I was an infant! I was condemned this fate the moment they decided that Kumo couldn't take _one measly little child _from them!"_

_ "Kai, sto—"_

_ "No! All Yamihoshi wanted was that one child…" Kai choked back a small sob. "If they would have taken her, we would have never been attacked." _

_ C took a step back from Kai's trembling form. "Maybe you should thin—"_

_ "I'll take this into my own hands. If I can give them the child they wanted… that girl… then they can stop attacking villages… and we can live in peace." _

* * *

Hinata jerked awake, vaguely aware of the clanking sound that happened when she moved. She immediately stiffened up when she heard a voice echoing from somewhere.

"I told you already, I attacked Uzumaki for an alibi!" That was Kai's voice – it was melodious with a rusty timbre. She was composed but angry – as the undercurrent tone in her voice suggested. This was nothing like the high, cheery voice that she was usually associated with… nor was this like when she was taken to the hospital. She had spoken in a dull, metallic voice, then.

This time, a man was speaking. His voice was vaguely familiar to Hinata, but she couldn't find the name to describe him. "You have trouble with controlling your anger. If you don't want to be bested by someone, don't fight them. Now they all think that _you're _the enemy. Say that there's a possible spy in the hospital in your village. The spy goes missing at the exact time the most powerful and well known clan is attacked." He was growling at Kai, his voice itself intimidating. "Isn't that a _little _suspicious?"

Kai's mellow voice spoke up again, this time, slightly amused. "Do you know how boring it was to act like a complete idiot for them? I mean, I don't even sound like a dolt – how do you expect me to pass for one?"

The deep voice replied, obviously annoyed. "You aren't making much sense. You attack _the most powerful ninja alive _and expect nothing's going to happen? And I thought you hated Orochimaru? Why copy him?"

Another, gruff voice spoke up. Somehow, it sounded soft and harsh… like sandpaper on a freshly painted wall.

"I managed to escape Konoha and there were no problems." The voice purred. "So how did this present a challenge for you, Tori?"

"Please don't call me that. But you were a Legendary Sannin, after all. Of course you escaped." Kai's voice was a heavy contrast from the last time Hinata spoke with her. This woman sounded calm, collected, and well educated. But still, the way she spoke… like she was luring in an animal closer for an easier kill.

And then it struck Hinata – the sandpaper voice was Orochimaru. Of course – the smooth, slightly amused tone could only belong to him. With that knowledge, Hinata could clearly picture his smooth, white skin and thin face.

After the war, he was thrown in prison…. How did he manage to escape such a maximum security prison without raising alarm in Konoha?

Slowly, Hinata reached her chained foot out to tap Hanabi awake. Her younger sister jerked up and looked around, the chains clattering. Hinata shook her head wildly to tell her sister to stop, but it was already too late.

"Oh, so it seems they finally woken up. It's about time – I was thinking about cooking them up and fishing again." This was Kai, her deep voice was mocking. Hinata could hear the sickening smile in Kai's voice. Thinking quickly, Hinata reached up and brushed her hair down to form a halo around her head and hide her from view. Hanabi quickly did the same. Then, the two activated their Byakugan while staring at the cobblestone floor. The chakra signatures were so easy to spot, and Hinata gasped at the third, unknown person. He was undoubtedly the owner of the deep voice, and looking at his chakra signature, she could now put a name to the voice.

He spoke again, his voice close to the cell now. This startled the sisters. "Please don't forget, you are under my control. Please refrain from drawing any more attention to yourself. Get back to the hospital."

"Whatever." Kai sighed and Hinata froze again. There were footsteps, but only two pair. Kai had left.

Then, one figure leaned down to kneel in front of the bars where Hinata and Hanabi were confined. He was tall and lean – not too thin or thick for a shinobi. It made Hinata think of her teacher's words, "Twigs get broken and walls can't move." Hinata began to panic as she realized the irrelevance of the thought – but it would be good to think of something else. Thinking about being trapped by Orochimaru and his perverse ways would only lead to insanity.

The light was falling on the figure wrong, so Hinata had no way of seeing its face from where she was kneeling… but Hanabi could.

"Sasuke-san?!"

* * *

When he made it out side, it was pouring.

Being released from the hospital was like releasing a restless dog from its leash – freeing. But then…

This feeling was not that of freedom, however.

Strangely, it was unnerving the way the thunder seemed to shake each building. The foreboding wind seemed to carry the scent of potentially bad news and the uneven rhythm chilled Naruto's bones. And he became worried – he was not one to notice small details but one to see the big picture. Rarely did he have to put the details together like everyone else around him often did – he just knew.

But with every breath he took on his way home, he felt that pang just above his heart – the pang that only happened when something was seriously wrong. And although he had only felt this feeling once before… he didn't know what it was. He remembered meditating at Mount Myoboku and feeling tightness in his chest… something that told him, "Go to Konoha." And then he was alerted that Konoha was under attack.

There were only so many things that _could _have gone wrong, anyway, Naruto thought. He _was _in Konoha right now, anyway. What, Tsunade ran out of sake? Sasuke got himself beat up by Sakura? Hinata—Hinata! He looked up from the keys in his hands, looking around as if an answer would come to him in the drops of rain rolling off of his nose.

The Hyuga clan were slated for extermination, is what C had told them. What better time to sneak in a village than at one thirty in the morning in the rain?

Naruto kept telling himself that he was just being paranoid as he looked back down and unlocked his apartment door. He repeated that mantra in his head… even though something in the back of his mind told him that he was wrong.

* * *

"Shizune, I haven't slept for THREE DAYS! Gaara and his crazy devices, the whole attack… UGH! And we haven't even told Naruto about the meeting we had with the elders!" Tsunade was pacing her office, complaining to her assistant while waiting for the remaining Konoha Eleven and Sasuke to arrive. She had various pieces of news to deliver to each.

After sitting in an all day meeting, Tsunade had finally straightened out Sasuke's final sentence, which would be twenty years in the maximum security shinobi prison.

As soon as she entered her office, there was an attack on the Hyuga clan and Hinata and Hanabi were missing.  
"How long has it been since you sent for them?"

"Uh, I sent the falcon two minutes ago, Tsunade-sama. Please calm down."

Tsunade grunted in frustration. "Two minutes?! They're ninja! They should be here by now!"

As if on cue, Sasuke appeared in the Hokage's office, followed closely by Naruto. Sakura also landed in with Shikamaru.

"Look at you all, taking advantage of the body-flicker." Tsunade hissed bitterly, looking them over. Naruto's hatai-ite was missing and his slightly long blonde hair was falling into his eyes; Sasuke was wearing his usual clothes, but his dark eyes looked tired; Shikamaru looked lazy as usual, and Sakura wasn't even in gear.

"Sasuke, I have called you in particular here for a reason."

Sasuke looked at Tsunade passively and Tsunade glared back, her eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"Although in the end of the war, you were beneficial to our victory, your crimes towards Konoha and Kumo have added up. You are being charged with assassination of Konoha's sixth Hokage, attempted assassination of Kumo's Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee, and for communicating with the Akatsuki. You are to serve five years under restricted chakra and twenty years in prison."

Sasuke's gaze didn't waver as he nodded while Naruto clenched his fists. The look in his sapphire eyes was furious but he did not speak. Sakura looked away.

Tsunade continued, "While you all were probably resting up, Konoha was attacked exactly twenty minutes ago." Everyone but Sasuke gasped.

"Also, twenty five minutes ago, Kai Tori disappeared from the hospital."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and Tsunade hesitated with her next sentence. Who knew how Naruto would react?

"There are twenty of those from the Hyuga Clan that have been reported as deceased… and two are missing. Hinata and Hanabi Hyuga have disappeared from Konoha."

The room was silent as Naruto's blue eyes went cold and glared into Tsunade's hazel ones. Tsunade continued. "The three of you – Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru – will infiltrate the headquarters once we track Tori down. Please be on stand-by."

The door to Tsunade's office flew in and C and K were standing there, looking winded. "Please tell me… Kai didn't attack…" C panted with her unique eyes wide.

Tsunade glanced at the two and turned back to the Shinobi. "All of our Jounin are in Suna to aid with the retrieval of the ninja who have gone missing there." Naruto's eyebrows were seemingly permanently furrowed and his bottom lip was pulled up in concentration. It twitched, and finally, he spoke.

"… Stand By?" Naruto's voice shook. "Do you expect me to just sit around and do nothing?! You expect me to sit on my ass and wait until _you_ give the _say so _to go after them?! Kai could have taken Hinata and Hanabi _miles_ from here and I'm supposed to accept it?! BULL!" Tsunade looked from Naruto to Sakura, who also had a fierce look on her face.

Naruto slammed his palms down on Tsunade's desk and leaned in until his nose was aligned with hers. He was speaking in a low voice now. "If you were expecting me to be thrown off by Sasuke's sentence, then that was a mistake." His voice was full of barely contained anger and the muscles in his arms were rippling through the sleeves of his jumpsuit. "Compared to this, that is not—"

"Naruto… you would like to be Kage, correct? Then it would be best you controlle—"

"I'm tired of people telling me that I HAVE to act a certain way to be Hokage! I'm going to do things my way!" Naruto was shaking with rage at Tsunade and she moved back as she saw his eyes flicker orange. "And my way is not being on _standby _while people I care about are in _danger!" _Naruto's teeth were elongated and sharp as he growled at Tsunade.

"I cannot permit you to leave Konoha at the moment, Naruto!" Tsunade's hazel eyes were wide, but she held firm.

"I don't give a crap."

Naruto's hands were covered in orange chakra now and the desk he was leaning on didn't stand a chance. Tsunade stared into his eyes in pure shock as the desk collapsed to the ground in a pile of splintered wood.

He stood up straight and walked up to the door. Without looking back, he muttered, "You know where she is, right?"

C nodded slowly and K just looked at Naruto. Naruto continued, "Well then come with me."

* * *

Hinata pulsed chakra through the chains and watched as they clattered to the ground. Then, she shimmied out of the bars as soon as Sasuke's retreating form disappeared around the corner. Hanabi quickly followed and the two ran the opposite way, running with silence that only a ninja could pull off.

"Nee-chan, where are we?"

_I don't know. _

"Nee-chan…?"

_Hanabi, please be quiet. _

But these words didn't make it out of Hinata's mouth, for the sight she was witnessing was too much for her to bear.

Rows and rows of tubes filled with and example of every stage of growth from infancy to full maturity were lined up against a wall. There were various liquids holding various body parts including an extensive collection of eyes along another wall.

_Orochimaru._

This was his home base – the one Konoha could never find. This was the place where the sickest of his experiments happened… this was where Kai had taken her.

It is general knowledge to anyone who's read a good book that bad guys usually group together to form an organization. But this congregation of evil doers was just… wrong. Especially some of the villains were formed from some of the most powerful ninja alive – some who believe in saving others, not harming them.

And then there was Kai and Orochimaru. Orochimaru was generally known to have a demented mind – void of all morals and only driven to master every Jutsu ever invented.

Kai was driven only by the desperate need to take revenge for her clan – but she was confused as to whom to take it out on.

If a dog chases a cat and fails and then digs a hole to take out his frustration, do not blame the cat for running from the dog but the dog for digging a hole. But Kai was choosing to blame the cat – Hinata, in this case.

Hinata gagged and pushed Hanabi out of the room before her sister could be exposed to this level of horror.

The two quickly made their way down the hallway until they came across a particular cell.  
"Hanabi, let's go!" Hinata yanked on her sister's arm, all too eager to get out of the prison like place.

"But, Naruto-sama's in there!" Hinata's blood went cold when she saw the blonde headed figure in the cell. But when he looked up, his eyes brought back a vivid memory. _"I hate you. I hate you and every human alive." _

"That's not Naruto-kun. Let's go."

Hanabi opened her mouth in protest as Hinata grabbed her elbow and dragged her past the cell.

The two ran towards the first shine of light they found and managed to make their way above ground. Looking around, they realized that they were not in the forest like Hanabi had expected, or the desert like Hinata had predicted, but they were on a small island in the middle of the ocean.

"Of all the places…" Hanabi sighed, looking around. "Do you think we'll be able to walk across to a mainland?"

"Too risky. Even if there is a mainland, we don't know how far away it is. And then if we run out of chakra…"

Hanabi nodded. "And we can't summon…"

"Yeah…" Hinata pulled her long hair out of her eyes and looked back to the island. It was small – only about a mile across. "Our best bet is to go inside and see if we can get information from some of the prisoners."

And the two ventured back into the lair.

* * *

"At the top of this tree, there's an entrance that leads to an underground passageway. It leads straight to an island." C led K and Naruto to a huge tree just outside of Konoha.

Naruto nodded vigorously and began to take a step towards the tree bark.

"Wait!" K shouted. She placed her hands on the bark of the tree and flinched back immediately. "There are chakra receptors. If we use chakra to get up, they'll know we're here."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed together as he stared up the tree in anger. C spoke up again. "Maybe, if one of us could climb up without chakra, we could disable the receptors from the inside."

"I've got it covered!" K put her hands on the bark and began to shimmy up the tree. It was at least three times her size around. "I've got squirrel reflexes!" She shouted down, climbing rapidly.

C looked down. "Tatsuya hated squirrels."

Naruto looked at her. "Tatsuya?"

"No one!" She looked up suddenly and smiled. "Just thinking." At that moment, the whole tree began to crackle with blue lightning and then it suddenly fizzled out.

"Oh, looks like we can go up."

The two walked up the tree without incident and hopped down into the tree where they found K messing with machinery in the tree. "This is so… inhumane. This poor tree." And then she kicked the small box, effectively setting it on fire.

C gave K a deadpan look. "Yeah, put the tree out of its misery." C and K led Naruto down a hallway for miles, occasionally breaking to eat and rest.

"How far away _is _it?" Naruto asked, stuffing some instant ramen in his mouth.

"Is ramen all you eat?" K asked, her nose wrinkling.

"Hey, don't insult the ramen!" C and Naruto both said. Then, C said, "Uh, a couple hundred miles, I think."

Naruto all but spit out his ramen. "How the hell did they get there already?!"

"Well, my guess is they didn't take this path. And since Kai has a bird summon…" C looked around and gazed at the cracks in the stone. "It must be light out…"

As they all began to get up, they turned around in time to hear a distant rumbling. It stopped suddenly and then started up again, this time sending bits of dust and stone raining down into their hair.

Naruto shook the debris from his head and looked up. He hissed and closed his eyes as dust began to fall into his eyes again.

The rumbling was getting louder and the debris was falling heavier. C gasped as a chunk of dirt and rock fell on her hair and into her eyes.

K gasped, looking down the tunnel. "It's collapsing!"

**Okay… I used waaay too many line breaks in this chapter. I still liked chapter eight the best…**

**On another note, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a hatred for Kai! I'm so glad for the feed back! **

**Midnight's Falling Star: Heh, heh, heh… the next chapter, oh the next chapter. I was sooooo happy writing that scene… you'll see *grins***

**This story is going to be waaaay longer than I anticipated. I said fifteen to twenty chapters… I really meant twenty to thirty chapters. I realized that I will HAVE to resolve SOMETHING in this story so I can put the hotsprings trip back in~! I totes took it out and forgot all about it. Gomen. **

**This story's getting long… very long. And recently, line-breaks have been becoming my best friends. **

**This chapter is fast paced and very plot-heavy. I focus on the OCs in this chapter because they're seriously necessary to the plot. I'll need their backgrounds fully developed before I can turn around and start the main battles and stuff. **


	11. Chapter 11: Allies

**So! Chapter eleven! I I've started writing part two of this series called "Nightfall." I've also begun to plan out part three. This is officially the first large-scale story that I'm seriously going to finish. I'm still lazy at life… though, so don't expect too much of me…**

**I really hate Kai… Like I said earlier – she flew out of control. This is my best chapter so far – I don't want any stupid complaints about the characters actions this time – only legit problems. **

**Chapter length: Longer than I anticipated. Since this is mainly fighting, I didn't expect it to be very long. It's not ****_quite _****as long as chapter 7, but it was getting there. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto! Masashi Kishimoto does!**

**Chapter 11: Allies**

_"I know you remember why the Fourth Great Ninja War started." _

_ Kai sighed. "Of course, Baa-chan. Obito Uchiha wanted to put everyone under a genjutsu to end all suffering." She looked up at the dark, wrinkled face of her grandma. "But that doesn't seem like a bad thing." _

_ "It was, because it was taking away free will. When all else is taken away, including freedom, free will determines all." Kai's grandmother rasped out._

_ The old woman continued. "You know of the Uchiha clan, those with the powerful, red eyes. By their legend, there was a tree called the God Tree. It was worshiped by all. But at one time, there was a great war ravaging the land. The high princess stole the fruit from the tree and gained divine power… what we call 'chakra'." Kai nodded, listening intently._

_ "And when her son was born, he also possessed this divine power. He is what you know as the Sage of Six Paths."_

_ Kai groaned. "What does this have to do with anything?"_

_ The woman continued, paying Kai no mind. "But the tree was furious and it attacked. The Sage of Six Paths stopped it and sealed it within him. It was known as the Bijuu Juubi." _

_ "So… why do I need to know this?" Kai asked, wincing as her grandmother pulled a fraction of her dark hair into a braid. _

_ "Suffering and pain bring people together. Please remember this. If you face hardships, you only have yourself to blame."_

_ "What?! Why?! What if the house burns down?! How can I blame myself?!"_

_ "Foolish child! You will not let me finish!" The old woman pulled on Kai's hair and Kai hissed in pain. "If you choose to dwell on revenge, your heart will become impure – and for that, you have only yourself to blame. Uzumaki Naruto has brought peace to this world, because of that. I wish for you to follow his ways." _

_ Kai narrowed her eyes. _I know… that true peace does not exist.

* * *

"The grass is always greener on the other side."

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel."

"Kami works in mysterious ways."

"You have to have darkness for a dawn to come."

"Don't quote people!" Hinata whisper-yelled. They were both sitting in the farthest part of the hideout; the part that seemed abandoned. They had spent a total of seven hours hiding and waiting for nightfall.

"Isn't that what we've been doing?" Hanabi asked, looking at her sister.

"No… I mean, just… let's do something else."

Suddenly, the whole building began to rumble relentlessly. Beams of light filtered through the crumbling stone and fell on Hanabi's pale face. "Nee-san…"

"I know… let's get out of here."

The two hopped through the debris with grace that only ninja could pull off but Hinata paused as she heard a piercing scream followed by a dull thud. Hanabi grabbed her arm. "Right now, everyone's on their own."  
Hinata didn't have time to nod as she dodged a large falling stone that was engraved with a circular pattern. Ahead, a tunnel carved out of the same dark and decorative stone spread out, leading to an exit.

"See? There _is_ a light at the end of every tunnel." Hanabi cheered, running into the tunnel.

"Wait! Ha—" But Hinata was cut short as the tunnel began to roar. The sound that reverberated throughout the hideout was coming directly from the opening and pulsed with an unnatural beat. But Hanabi was already in the tunnel, running faster as the stones fell heavily onto the floor.

Hinata took off after Hanabi, chasing after the dark brown hair of her sister. The two ran at full speed, only stopping occasionally when the rocks were falling at slower intervals.

And then, there was water everywhere. It was rushing through the cracks and filling the water with the sediment of broken rocks. Hinata took a quick breath before the salty water made it above her head, and then swam up towards a human sized fissure in the tunnel. Suddenly, she was above water, miles away from the island.

Spitting water, she shook her hair out and treaded water, gasping for breath and looking around. Pulsing chakra through her hands and feet, she managed to get herself above water and into a standing position.

Looking around, she managed to find Hanabi doing the same only about ten yards away. About a mile away from her, Kai, Orochimaru, and Sasuke were all making their way above water, also. They all stood around, and by the way their figures were distorting, Hinata guessed that they were looking around in anger.

Without thinking, Hinata ran across the water towards Hanabi and grabbed her sister's arm. "Let's go!" She yelled, not caring that her chakra control was off in her feet and that she was splashing water.

"Nee-san! We don't know where to go!"

"It doesn't matter! We can't take all three of them on – not without back-up. Let's go!"

* * *

As the tunnel collapsed in, only one thought could run through Naruto's head: _No, not now. _

Hinata was on the other side of the passage – this was the only way that he could get to her. What cruel, twisted trick of fate would decide this?

_"Hinata, run! You can't defeat him!"_

_ "I know. I'm just being… selfish…"_

Naruto's heart constricted as he ran faster, forward even though K and C were screaming at him to go back. He kept running, even as salty water began to flood the passageway.

That's what kept him running – Hinata's determination. He could hear the panicked footfalls of K and C behind him, having decided to follow him.

"I think we should be showing you the proper respect, Naruto-sama." C was out of breath, gasping and slipping as the water began to flood towards them.

"Yeah… you're as close to a god as anyone could get." K was keeping up with C and Naruto, but only barely.

Naruto had no time to reply as he took a quick breath before diving into the water. _Damn it! _He thought as he swam to the surface to find that he was in the middle of the ocean. He closed his eyes quickly and opened them immediately as the Kyuubi's chakra surrounded him in a cloak.

"Anyone out there?" C asked, glancing over at Naruto.

"Yeah… Hinata and Hanabi are five miles to our right, Kai and… is that Sasuke?" Naruto narrowed his eyes directly ahead.

"Impossible…" K whispered. "We just saw him in the Hokage tower!"

Naruto's eyebrows pulled together. "No… that's not Sasuke. _Too _much malice to be him. This is the one from the falls."

C and K both nodded. Then, C sat down on the water's surface, closing her eyes and going through hand signals.

"What?" Naruto asked, glancing over towards her.

"Well, we have to help out in _some _way. C's going to act as the medic right now, in case anyone needs medical attention."

"I'm a lousy medic…" C murmured. "But I'll try!"

Naruto glanced back at C again before looking ahead. "I'm taking off." With that, he took a single step which sent him flying in the direction of the battlefield. There was a crater left behind in the water, but unlike normally, more water was slow to move in.

K blinked and gawked as Naruto moved off. "C, I'm off!" She nudged C's still form with her foot.

"Hm," C grumbled, deep in concentration. "Takes… so… long…"

K laughed slightly and took off full-speed in Naruto's direction.

* * *

Hinata looked up as salty mist and wind assaulted her face. A few seconds after, a huge gust of wind blew her backwards and the water seemed to be trembling with an unknown force. She activated her Byakugan only to be blinded by the sudden increase of mist and chakra woven air.

She glanced to her left to see a small form in the distance, sitting on the water. The mist and wind was surely coming from this figure. Further out, she could see another familiar chakra signature, followed by Naruto's signature.

"Hanabi, let's go!" She grabbed her sister's hand and the two began to run towards the rush and swirl of wind. After a mile or so, the wind seemed to stop – the eye of a hurricane. Hinata looked around with her Byakugan once more to confirm exactly what she was seeing.

Naruto and K were standing side by side, seemingly having a conversation with two more figures – Sasuke and Kai. Hinata could see Orochimaru's chakra signature about a mile behind her, but he was retreating at a steady rate – It wasn't worth chasing him.

She turned and began jogging across the water towards Naruto and K, keeping an eye on C as the barrier of mist began to turn to ice.

As Hinata approached, K called out to her. "Hinata-sama!" Hinata ran up and began to fill Naruto and K in, skipping the greetings and formalities.

"O-Orochimaru was there, too. B-But he escaped to the north."

Naruto's eyebrows pulled together, but otherwise, he said nothing. There was a sudden gust of wind and K looked back to C worriedly.

"What's she doing?" Hinata asked.

"She's creating a barrier so she can heal us should we get hurt. As long as we fight within this barrier, she'll distribute chakra to us to insure that we win this. She'll also drain chakra from the enemy, so we have to make sure they stay in the barrier, also."

Hinata and Naruto both nodded. Hinata looked around, assessing the situation. "If you and Hanabi guard the outer barriers, and Naruto-kun and I control the inner barrier, we'll be able to corner them and possibly capture them." Naruto, K, and Hanabi all blinked at Hinata but otherwise listened.

"Yosh!" Hanabi shouted, running towards the east end of the barrier and activating her Byukagan. K ran to the west side, snatching her glasses from her face and shoving them in her pocket. She formed a quick hand sign and closed her eyes, listening.

Suddenly, the ice barrier rippled and in ran two more figures. Naruto turned suddenly as he avoided a fire attack. "Sasuke!"

The dark haired shinobi landed between his dark(er) counterpart and Naruto, prepared to attack both.

"Looks like I'm going to have to go all out, then." Naruto murmured while forming the Kage Bushin hand sign. Two Shadow Clones appeared almost instantly, all somehow in Sage Mode.

Following another eruption, Naruto was soon in the farthest mode he could achieve in Kyuubi chakra mode, donning the body and shape of the Kyuubi.

"Sasuke" growled and darted back to stand beside Kai.

Hinata hopped backwards, landing close to where C was, and watched as Kai landed in front of her.

"Heh, heh, I finally get to fight one of the Konoha eleven _for real_!" She squealed with delight, clapping her hands together like a child.

Hinata narrowed her large eyes at Kai, and glared when "Sasuke" appeared next to her.

"Kai, please conceal your delight and kill her." He growled.

Hinata spoke up, pushing down the fear that was slowly building in her heart. "Why are you making her do your dirty work?" She asked, slowly slipping down into her Gentle Fist stance. On a second though, she made a few changes and charged chakra into her hands to begin her signature technique.

She noted the way "Sasuke's" Sharingan wasn't fully developed and miles away from a Mangekyou. She also paid attention to the way Kai mimicked her movements, also spreading her feet apart and leaning in, holding her hands by her sides.

"Well, I think it's obvious. I'm saving my chakra for something more important than fighting a weak, sad excuse for a Kunoichi like you."

Hinata couldn't control the spasm of anger that shook through her arms as she took a step forward. "Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!"

She lowered herself to the ground and ran at "Sasuke" full speed, only to be hit from an unknown force from the side. "Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!" Kai screeched, hopping back as she pulled her fist back from Hinata's face.

"Gentle Fist: _Jekenhou Rokujuu Yonsho*!" _Hinata gasped and hopped back, scrambling away from Kai. She used her Byukagan to see the area around Kai that she had to avoid.

_That's a Hyuga Technique! _Hinata dodged, landing gracefully before taking another swing at Kai. _And that's why I can win… _She waited for the weak spot that she knew existed in the Eight Trigrams, Sixty Four Palms technique. Huyga techniques focused too much on style, causing the last, graceful spin to be the main weak point. Hinata drove her fist through the thin line of chakra that was slowly dissipating from around Kai.

Without pausing, Hinata slammed her left foot into the ground and flung her left fist into "Sasuke's" face. He jumped backwards and flipped mid air to absorb the momentum from the punch.

"Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken!" Kai shouted while standing with her left arm in the air as a giant wind shuriken formed in her hand.

_That's Naruto's technique! _Hinata thought in a panic. Naruto's signature technique – unlike hers – was impossible to evade… and deadly. Jumping sideways, Hinata hit the ground and rolled, landing on one knee. She reached in her ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai, sharpened and ready to go.

* * *

Sai arrived at a wall of mist and circled it, his dark hair blowing in the wind. He spoke through his microphone, reporting his findings to Gaara, who was on the other side of the dome along with some Suna nin.

"Kazekage-sama, I've arrived at a large barrier. Do you have any farther instructions?"

"No, Sai. Please be on stand-by for-" Gaara was interrupted as the dome blasted mist and air. Gaara's sand shifted up to shield his face and dropped immediately after. He glared down into the barrier. "Belay that – enter the barrier."

Everyone nodded at Gaara's request, and braced themselves as the sand they were standing on began to rush forward. Sai pointed his drawn bird down and spiraled into the fog. He pulled up at the last minute, brushing Hanabi's hair with his bird's ink feathers.

"Release!" He whispered, and dropped to the ground as the bird disappeared into a puddle of ink. Hanabi looked up in surprise at the ANBU member.

"You're a root member!"

Sai smiled a fake smile at her. "Yes, and you're a stuck up Huyga."

Dropping down next to Sai, the real Sasuke narrowed his red eyes at the battle going on. "Look at that bastard," He growled.

Without hesitating, he ran up to stand beside Naruto. Donning his Susanoo** armor, he stretched out a long, purple arm and tried to crush Kai.

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto shouted at him, watching as Hinata narrowly dodged the hand.

Sasuke growled. "I wasn't aiming for your precious girlfriend."

Naruto put a chakra "paw" out to hold Sasuke back. "I'm pretty sure this doesn't call for _both _of us to go all out. And plus, you're supposed to be in prison."

"I'm here to _help, _baka…" Sasuke trailed off, for once he dropped his Susanoo, his dark counterpart rushed him immediately.

Naruto dropped his Kyuubi chakra mode, also, and suddenly looked towards a corner. "Hinata!" He shouted. "Move!" Listening to Naruto, Hinata moved out of range for Akamaru to jump in and make an attack at Kai's throat. He missed, but snarled dangerously.

Kiba was standing atop the water, his hand out, commanding Akamaru. Kankuro was shaking his hair free of water and Ino began to immediately complain.

"Oh, hell no! Now my hair's going to be all messed up! Why did they have to put us _underwater?!" _She kicked an escaped prisoner in the face while saying this, watching as he fell back into the water.

"What's your problem?" Kankuro grumbled. He looked up to the top of the dome, suddenly, and a grin lit his face.

"Yo! Little bro – a little help down here!" But Gaara remained floating above the battle onhis sand, seeming to be doing something.

"He's reporting to headquarters." Sai suddenly reported, landing next to Ino. "Hello… beautiful." He said to her, flashing a fake smile.

"Why thank you!" She beamed, backing up to Kiba. "You know, dog breath? Akamaru is such a cute and well trained dog… coming from a trainer like yourself."

"Go stand on a street corner, Ino. I'm sure plenty of guys will be willing to buy you."

Before Ino could gasp and retort, there was a sudden change in _landscape _as they were now in a forest.

"Gomenasai!" C muttered towards Hinata, as the dark haired Kunoichi fell over.

"That was you?!" Hinata asked in shock.

"Yeah… it's easier. I used up too much chakra sitting on that water like that." She closed her eyes and bent her head down. "The only problem is that the prisoners have more room to attack your ninja."

Hinata narrowed her eyes at C, not quite trusting her word. She looked back to Kai, who was laughing manically. "Oh, C! You used that technique! Ha!"

C gritted her teeth and concentrated on keeping the barrier up.

Hinata slid and began a sweep kick at Kai, and because of her speed, Kai had trouble avoiding it.

On the other side of the battle field, Sasuke and Naruto moved closer to Kiba, Kankuro, and Ino. Kankuro and Ino jumped back.

Suddenly, Sasuke and Naruto seemed to turn on each other. Hinata ran away from Kai and landed behind Sai.

"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked and was rewarded with a psychotic grin.

"Yep, it's me!"

They watched as Sasuke grabbed the hilt of his sword, pointing it towards Naruto.

"I knew you weren't trustworthy!" Kiba shouted from behind Naruto, preparing to attack. But Naruto held his hand up calmly. He had already planned out next few moves.

Sai, standing next to Naruto signaled to Hinata, who was standing behind Sai. Hinata suddenly grabbed Sai's sword, and performed a transformation technique on it, making the blade longer and sharper. She stood in front of Sai, the blade pointed directly at Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not putting them into their Sharingan mode… and he had made a mistake.

Naruto burst into Kurama's chakra mode, orange flames licking his body. With the blink of an eye, he had run up Sai's back and used the sword Hinata was holding as a diving board, sending himself head on at Sasuke. Hinata and Sai were blown back at the rush of air and sound that followed Naruto's action, but somehow, Sasuke had managed to flick his eyes into their Sharingan mode and trace Naruto's movements.

But even if Sasuke could see Naruto, his body would be unable to keep up with Naruto's speed. Naruto landed a blow crushing kick to Sasuke's jaw and landed promptly on his feet, watching as Sasuke flew through the woods. Naruto canceled the Kyuubi chakra mode and sighed, turning his back on the spot where Sasuke had disappeared into the woods.

Suddenly, there was a flash of black landing next to Naruto. "Teme." He growled.

"Yep. You now know from this that I won't hesitate to attack you." Naruto replied happily, turning to look back at the woods.

Everyone, save for Sai and Hinata, were confused to the point of madness. "Sasuke, you bastard! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kiba practically screamed, barely managing to hold his ground.

"You thought that was me? You're supposed to know these things." Sasuke shook his head slowly, glaring at the fake that was now picking itself out of a tree.

"You kick hard, Uzumaki!" It growled, rubbing its jaw. Sasuke suddenly winced, feeling his jaw break from an unknown force. "You forgot though…."

"Sh—Sasuke, you alright?" Naruto looked over at the older Shinobi, worried to see him holding his jaw tenderly.

"Teme…. From that weak kick? Keh." Sasuke rumbled, amusement hidden in his voice.

"Arigato, Hinata-chan!" Naruto called back, pleased with Hinata's quick thinking. She had sensed that Naruto needed a way to attack, and she knew that in order to get across the clearing in one motion, Naruto would need a diving board of sorts.

Naruto, on the other hand, had been thinking about using Sai as a wall to give him lift so he could use pure momentum and chakra to push himself forward. When he saw Hinata go to grab Sai's small blade, Naruto had been grateful.

Sai had known that this Sasuke was a fake from the beginning – the feeling was all off. As a member of ANBU, he had to adapt to his teammates and know the feel of their chakra, not just the type. He had to know the emotions and personalities that the chakra gave off. "Sasuke's" radiated bloodlust and hatred while the real Sasuke's chakra was just cold. Sai's technique was similar to what Naruto could do in Kyuubi chakra mode, or what Naruto's relative, Karin, could do.

But, Sai had been unaware that Naruto was going to use him as a wall, and that Hinata would encourage that action.

* * *

Kai jumped back in surprise, watching as Naruto took down Dark Sasuke in a single kick. Hinata dove forward and sliced what seemed like mid air, but was actually a chakra string, connecting Sasuke to his dark equivalent.

Before she could turn around, Sasuke was pointing the tip of his grass-cutter sword at the nape of her neck.

Time stood still as Sasuke brought the sword up.

"Wait!" C screeched from her spot on the forest floor. "I'm not saying, 'don't kill her', I just want to say something to her."

Gaara wrapped his sand around some of the convicts who were giving Ino and Kankuro trouble. He then moved them up above his sand "surfboard" and drops of blood rained down.

"Kai… why?" C, who was saddened at her teammates' actions, asked.

"Because… Orochimaru told me that he would bring everyone back… and he will…"

"You believe the very people you hate! You hate them with your very being, yet you team up with them?!" C stood up, disrupting the barrier. K and Hanabi gasped as the weight of the force field was dropped on them, but otherwise, they kept it up.

"I did! And I will! Their actions can be justified—"

"These ninja from Konoha had nothing to do with our affairs, yet you felt the need to drag them into this. Some from the village have lost their lives to your ignorance!" C looked down at the ground and then met Kai's eyes with a glare.

Kai looked up and laughed. "I'm not sorry." Immediately, Sasuke lowered his sword in one swift motion and C looked down and away.

"I'm glad _that's _over." He muttered, putting his spotless sword back in its sheath.

Dark Sasuke laughed, so loudly that his voice carried through the forest. "You wish."

He formed the "Earth" hand sign and everyone gaped – Sasuke could not use Earth techniques. He had gained only some of Sasuke's abilities, but had also gotten a unique pool.

Between Naruto, Kiba, Sai, and Hinata, C, and K, a wall formed. Naruto and Sai went back to back as Kiba stood next to Akamaru, his expression fierce. On the other side of the wall, C went back to aiding K with holding up the wall, as Hanabi was now sweating with the effort.

Hinata powered up her hands and stared at the pseudo Sasuke. Ino took a step behind Hinata, feeling useless in this situation.

Dark Sasuke went through a series of hand signs before biting his thumb and slamming his palm to the ground. His voice was soft and he looked up at Naruto and then Hinata. "Pure Reanimation…"

**I'm so evil. I love this ultra long chapter – it's my favorite so far. Please, don't expect another chapter from me for a while, though. I'm spending this time to focus on school and everything else. As much as I want to, I can't dedicate my life to fanfiction. **

**Expect some drama-bombs in the next chapter :D grins evilly. **

***I'm not sure I used the right technique here. If I made a mistake, please tell me.**

**** Not sure I spelled it right, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Let me know!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm an unhealthy little writer.**

** I haven't been updating, and most likely, I won't for a while. By a while, I mean two weeks.**

** Based on something called "stress" I've completely lost my scrambled mind – for real, this time, though I thought I did YEARS ago. **

** I'm touching up the last chapters of Endless Sunsets, and I'll tell everyone what's going on with that story next month.**

** NOW, DON"T LEAVE ME! I'm not discontinuing this story! I'm just putting it on an ULTRA short hold. Like, two weeks, max. **

** So, if you're totally pissed at me, go ahead. But I WILL finish this story, trust me. I've NEVER finished a story, and this WILL be the first.**

** For those of you that understand, thanks! I'll try to get the story re-going ASAP.**

** Thanks – Kyla of the Desert**


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